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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413350">The Wolf and the French Heir</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevanishingpoint/pseuds/thevanishingpoint'>thevanishingpoint</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Bad Parent Walburga Black, Banter, Beauxbatons, Beauxbatons Student Sirius Black, Canon Divergence, Character Death, Death Eaters, Elixir Of Life, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First War with Voldemort, Fluff and Angst, French Sirius Black, Gay Remus Lupin, Gay Sirius Black, Horcrux Creation, Horcruxes, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Peter Pettigrew, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Minor James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Minor Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Near Death Experiences, Non-Canonical Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Rivals With Benefits, Rivals to Lovers, Sirius Black &amp; James Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Speaks French, Slow Burn, Triwizard Tournament, Walburga Black Bashing, Werewolf Remus Lupin, Young James Potter, Young Lily Evans Potter, Young Peter Pettigrew, Young Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black, wolfstar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:33:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>30,578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29413350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevanishingpoint/pseuds/thevanishingpoint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the Triwizard Tournament takes place in Hogwarts<br/>and despite his best efforts<br/>Remus Lupin can’t help falling for the Black heir<br/>in his blue Beauxbatons uniform<br/>and his stupid French accent<br/>while there's a war brewing around them.</p><p>This is an AR inspired by @legallylupin’s TikTok which features wolfstaraddict's Tumblr post. It will be posted both on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own (AO3). </p><p>DISCLAIMER: most characters, events, places and spells belong to the Harry Potter franchise. I own my original characters and the canon-divergent plotline.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>201</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Intro</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>{COMING SOON}</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Sous le ciel de Paris</em>
</p><p>
  <em>S'envole une chanson</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Elle est née d'aujourd'hui</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dans le cœur d'un garçon</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sous le ciel de Paris</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Marchent des amoureux</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leur bonheur se construit</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sur un air fait pour eux</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Et le ciel de Paris</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A son secret pour lui</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Depuis vingt siècles il est épris</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Quand il lui sourit</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Il met son habit bleu"</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>["Under the sky of Paris</p><p>A song takes flight</p><p>It was born today</p><p>In the heart of a boy</p><p>Under the sky of Paris</p><p>Lovers go about</p><p>Their happiness is built</p><p>On a tune made for them</p><p>And the sky of Paris</p><p>Has a secret for them</p><p>For twenty centuries he's been in love</p><p>When he smiles at him</p><p>He puts on his blue coat"]</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. AVANT</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>1. Avant means "before".<br/>2. There will be parts in French, seeing as the Blacks are French in this story. The translations will always be right next to the text in French.<br/>3. Neither English nor French are my first languages. If you notice any mistakes, of any kind, don't hesitate to point them out :)<br/>4. Slow updates until I'm done writing the 5/6 chapters left from the other fic I'm working on.<br/>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The once unpolluted white marble floor bore a stain of crimson red that spread until it became one with the black carpet near the hearth. A young, raven-haired boy lay on the floor, his right cheek pierced by a deep cut that was oozing blood that reached the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand, his defiant eyes stubbornly fixed on the woman that was looking down on him and grimacing as if the sight of his own son repulsed her.</p><p>Her hand was unwavering as she held the black wand that was pointed directly at her child’s face. Behind her, leaning against a green armchair, a younger boy flinched when he noticed the blood flowing through the cut on his brother’s skin. He didn’t speak, he never did; but the terror in his eyes would’ve earned him a slap to his neck had his father noticed it.</p><p>“<em>Blacks n’ont peur de rien </em>[The Blacks fear nothing]<em>,</em>” he would say, before claiming all the abuse they’d bestowed upon their offspring was for their own benefit and would make them real men.</p><p>The truth was, Regulus did fear. He feared he would never be as brave as his own brother, who might have been sprawled across the black rug with blood dripping from his chin but the fire inside his eyes was always there, defying the family mandates and fiercely defending his own beliefs. He also feared the day his brother’s defiance would earn him a fate worse than a scar and he would be left alone to bear with their parents and the great things they expected from them.</p><p>“<em>Tu feras ce que je te dis </em>[You’ll do as I say],” the stern woman spat, “<em>tout comme ton frère </em>[just like your brother]”.</p><p>The bleeding heir tried to lift himself up from the floor, only to be met by his father’s wand. He felt the wooden tip burying in his throat and felt himself choking, but looked up even more furiously with his eyes full of tears.</p><p>“<em>Réponds à ta mère, garçon ingrat </em>[Answer your mother, you ungrateful boy],” Orion Black sneered, trying to mask his own weakness by threatening a seventeen-year-old who couldn’t defend himself.</p><p>“<em>Je ne suis pas comme vous </em>[I’m not like you],” Sirius Black replied, shoving his father’s wand away from his throat. “<em>Je ne suis pas un meurtrier </em>[I’m not a murderer]”.</p><p>A jet of blue light lit up the room and landed on Sirius’s face, that time just above his eyebrow. His skin split where the spell touched it and more blood trickled down the side of his face. The boy remained in place and he let the carpet engulf the red; small victories like those kept him sane.</p><p>“<em>Nous sommes ta famille, tu nous respecteras </em>[We’re your family, you will respect us],” Walburga Black answered, stepping closer to her son. “<em>Tu obéiras au Seigneur des Ténèbres et tu feras ce qu’il veut </em>[You’ll obey the Dark Lord and do as he wishes]”.</p><p>“<em>Non, je ne le ferais pas </em>[No, I won’t do it],” the oldest Black son said, as he finally rose up and stood in front of his family.</p><p>He looked at his brother, whose shirt’s sleeves were rolled up after he’d been dozing off under the summer sun, and saw the black mark tattooed on his forearm. That mark that would never leave him and would bind him to Lord Voldemort’s will forever. He had tried to save Regulus, help him realise he could build his own path and not follow their family’s wishes. He had been a day too late: the day he returned from Beauxbatons after his sixth year, he’d gone straight to his bedroom and locked himself in there. He wanted to defer reuniting with his parents for as long as they would let him; but the next day, when he tried to sneak into the kitchen for breakfast, his father had caught him and seated him in front of his brother. He forcefully lifted the fabric from his arm and when he did, Sirius saw the Dark Mark etched on his skin forever.</p><p>“It’s that queer school,” his father said mockingly with a bad English accent. “<em>Ils t’ont fait un lavage de cerveau. Ta loyauté est envers nous, pas envers tes amis homos </em>[They’re brainwashing you. Your loyalty lays with us, not with your homosexual friends]”.</p><p>Sirius took a step closer to his parents, appearing far more brave than he felt. It was one thing to defy his parents, but it was another thing entirely to get closer and look down at them, taking advantage of his height. Despite his brother’s frantic shakes of his head, he drew his wand and held it close to his body, at the ready. He wouldn’t stand any more abuse from them, not anymore.</p><p>“<em>Mes «amis homos» sont trois fois plus d’hommes que toi </em>[My ‘homosexual friends’ are thrice the men you are],” he replied, and he knew what it would earn him and for once, he didn’t mind.</p><p>He stood still, his eyes fixed on his father’s contorted, rabid face.</p><p>“<em>Endoloris ! </em>[Crucio!],” he shouted, and Sirius Black fell down to the ground once again, his body seizing under the power of the curse.</p><p>He had endured that Unforgivable Curse enough times to know what to do: he kept his eyes open, focused on a fixed stain on the ceiling and thought about his best friend, Dorcas, and the plans they had for when they were old enough to leave. The pain became slightly more bearable.</p><p>Orion dropped his hand and Sirius lay on the floor, panting but in one piece. He sat up, mustering all the strength he had left, and looked at them, the anger in his eyes more noticeable.</p><p>“<em>Tu aideras au Seigneur des Ténèbres pendant le Tournoi des Trois Sorciers et tu feras passer notre nom dans l’histoire comme la famille la plus fidèle </em>[You will help the Dark Lord during the Triwizard Tournament and you will make our name go down in history as the most faithful family],” Walburga whispered.</p><p>“<em>Je préfère mourir que d’être comme vous </em>[I’d rather die than be like you],” Sirius responded, the blood blinding his eyes.</p><p>“<em>Alors ainsi soit-il </em>[Then so be it],” his mother replied, as she left the room.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. A Conspicuous Arrangement</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Can you be <em>any bloody louder?”</em> the scarred boy asked as he threw his pointed hat at his two friends.</p><p>The first few days of Remus Lupin’s seventh year at Hogwarts had begun with quite a thrill, after Dumbledore had announced during the feast that their school would be the home to the 1977’s Triwizard Tournament. Nothing could make their excitement die down, not even the prospect of having their most difficult exams at the end of their school year. Remus had been as expectant as his best friends but after a couple of weeks where everything they talked about was related to the event, he started getting more and more frustrated.</p><p>“I wonder if there will be any girls,” Peter sighed.</p><p>“Of course there will be, Pete,” James replied while he polished his broomstick. “There will be Brazilian and <em>French </em>girls. I even heard all the boys at Beauxbatons are queer so you’ll have a chance, Rem.”</p><p>“What the fuck are you insinuating?” Remus asked, looking away from the book on his lap and ready to hit his best friend with his pillow.</p><p>“That since the boys are all gay, you’ll have more girls to choose from,” James answered, casting him a questioning look. “What’s wrong with you?”</p><p>Remus let out the air he had been holding and tried to regain his composure; on the seven years he’d known his two best friends, he’d never told them that he didn’t feel as <em>enthusiastic </em>about girls as they did. He had always known there was something wrong with him, clearly, but he’d been very good at disguising it. He’d dated girls, he’d slept with girls, he’d talked about and to girls; he hadn’t particularly enjoyed any of those endeavours.</p><p>“Nothing,” he replied, trying to calm himself down. “We’re just close to the full moon, that’s all.”</p><p>That wasn’t a complete lie, so he didn’t feel too bad about it. Ever since his two friends started accompanying him during the full moon in his animal forms, the damage he used to inflict upon himself receded a great amount, but it was still not enough; the rat was too small to be any real fun to play with and the stag sometimes felt like a threat to the wolf, which resulted in his friends having to escape his sharp claws and precise fangs. He was grateful for the risk his friends took every month, but they were too different; the wolf, despite being able to run around the forest and roam freely until the moon disappeared behind the cliffs, couldn’t help feeling lonely and misunderstood. That’s the only feeling Remus ever remembered when he woke up naked in the dusty mattress of the Shrieking Shack.</p><p>“I thought Durmstrang would be the third wizarding school,” Peter wondered, fishing a flavoured bean from the bottom of his bag.</p><p>“Yeah, I dunno,” Remus replied, eager to change the subject. “I guess it has something to do with the war.”</p><p>“Don’t call it that,” the blonde-haired boy replied with a slight shiver.</p><p>“Well, it <em>is </em>a war,” James interceded. “My dad told me Durmstrang’s headmaster is rumoured to be a Death Eater; no wonder Dumbledore doesn’t want him to get close to Hogwarts.”</p><p>“They have five subjects dedicated to the dark arts,” Peter interrupted him, jumping at the prospect of knowing something his friends didn’t. “I read it in The Prophet.”</p><p>“I would have loved to hex some Death Eaters,” James replied with a smirk. “Guess Snivellus will have to do the trick.”</p><p>“The Castelobruxo students will be delighted to meet him,” Remus answered, trying to sound casual. “I heard they specialized in magical creatures and I’m sure they’ve never met such a short troll.”</p><p>“And the Beauxbatons students will probably want to use the grease in his hair to brew potions, too,” Peter added and the three of them burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter after picturing it.</p><p>Despite being the three most popular Gryffindors, every other student was glad they didn’t have to share a room with them. Theirs was the nosiest and messiest out of all the dormitories, and one never knew what to expect when the door opened. The only one who could keep them in line was Lily Evans, Remus’s best friend and Head Girl; the red-haired girl might have been at least ten centimetres shorter than Peter, but every time she folded her arms or gave them a stern look, it was enough for the three of them to start running. The common room could either be filled with their laughter or with Lily’s scolding, followed by James’s poor attempts at winning her over.</p><p>Remus had met the two boys when he had first boarded the Hogwarts Express on his first year and they had barged into his compartment, hiding from Snape after having turned his robes a scandalous shade of pink. Remus asked them what was going on and they both shouted in surprise when they realised they weren’t alone. After hearing their high-pitched, prepubescent screams, their friendship had been sealed and they had been inseparable ever since.</p><p>After a few minutes, their stomachs hurting and their eyes wet with tears, Remus went back to his book as Peter and James started discussing quidditch tactics. It wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy the sport; he had even been invited by the Potters to the final match of the World Cup just a year before (France vs. Ireland with very good accommodation. James had spent the first couple of minutes drooling over the Irish seeker, Aoife Lynch, and Remus had been the one to snap him out of his trance; he couldn’t believe someone could look so stupid in presence of a woman) and had enjoyed it thoroughly.</p><p>That was, of course, before <em>the thing </em>happened. At first he had decided to blame it on the alcohol, Fleamont Potter’s 1865 Firewhiskey. James, Peter and himself had sneaked out of their tents when their parents were sleeping and drank from the golden beverage’s bottle until their vision was blurry and the trees seemed to sway to the rhythm of the faint rock music coming from a nearby tent. Despite having drunk as much as his friends, Remus was the only one who could manage to walk in a straight line so he decided to get some water for his friends before they blacked out; he was a guest and would have despised having to explain to James’s parents what was that stench his son’s shirt reeked of. He walked out of James’s and Peter’s sight and they were too drunk to notice Remus came back an hour later, even though the water pump was merely ten minutes away, and he no longer held the water bottles he had been carrying.</p><p>Remus had returned to his friends almost completely sober and trying to sort his thoughts. He had decided not to tell a soul about what had happened in that hour he left his friends and he would have succeeded in keeping it a complete secret hadn’t it been for Lily; as soon as he returned to Hogwarts for his sixth year, she was the only one who noticed the subtle change in his behaviour and made a connection with his more noticeable ones. He had always been popular among the girls, shy and always hiding behind a book as he was; but that year, something had changed and he stood differently, approached girls and more than once James and Peter found themselves locked out of their own room. His guy friends praised him, his girl friends mocked him and Lily just observed. One day she decided to ask him about it and, after some excuses and dismissive words, he told her the truth.</p><p>“I’ve got to leave you, lads, I’m meeting Evans in the common room,” James suddenly said, as if he had been reading Remus’s thoughts.</p><p>“Did she finally agree to go out with you?” Peter asked, hopefully.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“No,” Remus replied at the same time. “Lily told me they had to conduct the Prefects’ meeting.”</p><p>“Technically, yes,” James conceded as he pulled his sweater over his black curls. “But we’re meeting fifteen minutes earlier to go through the points we need to discuss. <em>And </em>we’re walking alone to the classroom and back here when we’re finished. Sounds like a date to me.”</p><p>“Sounds like Head Boy and Head Girl responsibilities to <em>me</em>,” Remus answered and he had to duck when a pillow flew too close to his face.</p><p>They went down the stairs to meet a fiery Lily and a frowning Marlene. As soon as she saw them, the ginger ran towards her best friend and hugged him tightly.</p><p>“Thank Merlin you’re saving me from this one,” she whispered in his ear, pointing her head at Marlene.</p><p>Remus laughed and buried his nose in her hair. “You won’t be so thankful in five minutes when James starts speaking to you.”</p><p>“Hands off my woman, Lupin,” James shouted from behind.</p><p>Without breaking their embrace, Lily moved her wand and the three cushions on the nearest armchair flew in James’s direction, hitting him in the face. She kept it up for a few seconds and when they finally looked at him, his curls were more ruffled than usual and his glasses were dangling from one of his ears.</p><p>As soon as he realised Lily was looking at him, he slid his fingers through his jet-black hair and smirked. “Evans, I must say, you look as ravishing as ev—”</p><p>“Spare me, Potter,” Lily replied, pecking Remus in the cheek and already walking towards the exit. “Follow me, we’re late.”</p><p>“What’d I tell you? Mad about me, that one,” James replied, before he trotted behind her and disappeared through the portrait.</p><p>Remus was still grinning when he reached Marlene, but all traces of a smile disappeared when he saw her face.</p><p>“You alright?” he asked her.</p><p>“I will be when we get out of this bloody room,” she replied and Remus knew it was best to shut up and follow.</p><p>Marlene McKinnon was the star of the Gryffindor quidditch team (after James, who Remus suspected only attracted more attention because he was more approachable), a fierce friend who would defend her loved ones above anything else and the owner of an unparalleled beauty. Everything in her was alluring to anyone who was lucky enough to look at her: from her blue-sky eyes to her short, blonde hair and her eye-catching figure. She made heads turn without even trying and she didn’t seem to care about it, either. Had Remus been any more interested in dating, Marlene would have definitely been one of his top choices.</p><p>On that particular day, though as beautiful as ever, her features were contorted in rage and her pace was quick enough to make Remus pant as he tried to keep up.</p><p>They reached the library in complete silence and they didn’t slow down until they were seating on their favourite table near the vast windows that overlooked the Black Lake. From there they were able to make out Peter’s small figure, hovering over the quidditch field and training Gryffindor’s new chaser. Peter was James’s second and the one who had to take over his training sessions when the captain was busy with Head Boy duties; the small boy didn’t mind at all and he was always more than willing to comply. He had been made keeper during their third year and had managed to retain his position ever since. Remus was a witness to how much his friend had sweated to be in the position he found himself in that moment and a small smile dangled on his lips as he watched him soar through the autumn sky.</p><p>Marlene opened her Herbology book and angrily turned the pages, nearly ripping one of them that got caught up with the fabric of her coat. Remus’s heart gave a leap as he debated whether trying to calm her down was a good idea.</p><p>“What has the poor book ever done to you?” he asked, trying to sound casual so as not to be glared at.</p><p>She looked up at him, a genuine confused expression on her face, and stopped turning the pages, much to Remus’s relief.</p><p>“Sorry,” she simply replied.</p><p>“You look miffed,” Remus observed, not knowing what else to say.</p><p>“That’s because I bloody am,” Marlene replied, the anger in her tone rising again. She caught herself and took a deep breath.</p><p>“D’you want to… talk about it?”</p><p>“Lily and Mary have been bugging me all day long,” she sighed. “They want me to date a Hufflepuff boy they know that apparently fancies me.”</p><p>“Is that so bad?” Remus inquired, trying to figure out why would it be such a bother.</p><p>“It isn’t, I guess. But I don’t want to date anyone and they can’t seem to wrap their heads around it.”</p><p>“That I can relate to,” the Gryffindor boy said. “James and Peter keep asking why is it that I stopped dating. A seventeen-year-old whose hormones aren’t taking over his life? Outrage.”</p><p>Marlene smiled at him and he felt her shoulders relax. “We all wondered the same thing, though. Last year you had a new girl every week and now you barely glance at any female that tries to shamelessly flirt with you.”</p><p>“Nobody tried to ‘shamelessly flirt with me’, Mar,” he replied, feeling his cheeks redden.</p><p>“How dense can you be, Remus Lupin? Every girl who’s not talking about James is talking about you. Sometimes they even talk about the two of you at the same time.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, I don’t want to date either,” he quickly responded, avoiding her question.</p><p>“I know. I’ve yet to find someone that’s available and attracts me enough, y’know? It’s like I’m the only girl my age that isn’t chuffed to have a boy’s tongue down my throat.”</p><p>Remus didn’t say anything, but he felt the same way about the girls his age. They dived into their books and stayed silent for a while, the silence occasionally interrupted with questions or the sound of chocolate wrappers being slid towards Marlene.</p><p>As the sun hid behind the lake, the orange hue of the sunset made Remus’s hair catch on fire. He kept looking down at his book and chewing on his chocolate, but the glimmer in his eye was too bright to miss and everyone around him seemed to notice. Furtive looks from nearby tables flooded their way, fixed on either the blonde girl or the sandy-haired boy. Girls and boys alike stared as the faint shadows of the incipient night started engulfing their slender figures and shrouded them in a mysterious aura. Both were oblivious, focused solely on their work and each other.</p><p>Marlene closed her book: “The strangest idea just occurred to me.”</p><p>“Hm?” Remus inquired, his eyes fixed on his Transfiguration paper.</p><p>“Maybe <em>we </em>should date,” she exclaimed.</p><p>That certainly caught Remus’s attention. He looked up, expecting to see her trying to contain her laughter, but instead saw her resolute eyes piercing his.</p><p>“You taking the piss?” he incredulously asked, looking at her as if she had just lost her mind. “Didn’t we both just say that neither of us wanted to date?”</p><p>“Just listen,” she said, grabbing his book and setting it aside. “Your friends are nagging you about dating someone and mine are too. Maybe we could both <em>pretend </em>we’re dating so they can finally piss off and we can be at peace again.”</p><p>Remus sat back on his chair, weighing his possibilities. Marlene’s plan didn’t sound too bad and it wouldn’t need too much of an explanation; they had been friends for a long time, spent countless hours alone in the library and they were both good looking enough to look the part. That much he knew.</p><p>“I can’t decide whether this is a brilliant plan or the most stupid idea you’ve ever come up with,” he replied after a minute.</p><p>“This is bloody brilliant, Rem,” she answered, sliding towards him and lowering her voice. “We can just keep doing everything we’ve done so far. Maybe snog once or twice to avoid looking dodgy. You’re good-looking enough that I don’t mind.”</p><p>The idea was starting to grow on Remus, who wanted nothing but to be left alone by his two best friends and their raging hormones. He would also stop finding himself in the awkward situation of having to decline Hogsmeade dates and letting down the girls who approached him, which he absolutely despised. The staring and talking would stop.</p><p>“Fine,” he replied. “I’m in.”</p><p>As if she had been waiting for her cue, Mary Macdonald entered the library. She quickly spotted the two friends and went over to their table, her black curls bouncing and her hazel eyes shining against her dark skin. Remus looked back at Marlene and noticed her eyes travelling down the curves of their friend before she quickly looked away.</p><p>“Hey! What were you up to?” she asked as she sat down beside Marlene. “I was just looking for you.”</p><p>“Hey, Mary,” Remus replied, smiling at her. “We were just… studying.”</p><p>“Remus asked me to be his girlfriend,” Marlene suddenly said.</p><p>The boy looked at her in disbelief. They hadn’t even decided how they were going to tell their friends. He tried to catch her eye, but she was too busy looking at a gobsmacked Mary.</p><p>“Yeah, right,” she replied, laughing as she looked at the two friends. “Did he pop the question while you two were riding the back of a Hungarian Horntail? Sod off.”</p><p>Remus was about to answer when Marlene grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards her. Without a second’s hesitation, she pressed her lips to his in a rough manner. Remus was awestruck, but he decided to play along: he buried his long fingers in her blonde mane and pulled her in for a few seconds. Her lips were soft and for a second he could imagine he was kissing someone else, but her sweet smell of roses brought him back to reality. He pulled away, red at his cheeks.</p><p>They both looked back at Mary, whose eyes were as round as the pendant dangling from her neck, and they leaned back on their chairs, looking slightly embarrassed.</p><p>“No <em>fucking </em>way,” she said as she kept staring at the two.</p><p>“’Twas a bit of a shock for me too,” Marlene replied as she cleared her throat. “But I’m happy.”</p><p>Remus simply nodded, too dumbfounded to do anything else.</p><p>“About time!” Mary simply exclaimed, earning a deathly glare from Madame Pince. “We always knew you two would end up together! Most dashing couple in Gryffindor, no doubt about that.”</p><p>Mary seemed convinced and genuinely happy for the both of them, which was a relief to Remus, who was still trying to process he had just kissed his best friend and felt nothing at all. They both smiled at her as she got up from her seat.</p><p>“I’ll leave you two alone, then. You better tell everyone soon or I will,” she said, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek before disappearing through the wooden doors.</p><p>Marlene and Remus sat in silence and looked around. Every face was turned towards them and all the students bore the same amused expression Mary had been wearing.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Remus,” Marlene said. “I got a bit carried away. I figured since we’re doing this, we might as well put on a show from the start.”</p><p>“Yeah, alright,” he replied, gathering his books. “I doubt everyone here will keep quiet about it.”</p><p>“And since Mary knows, the whole school will probably know by breakfast,” she replied with a smirk. “I say we let them.”</p><p>Remus simply smiled and waited for his friend; as they walked towards the entrance, all eyes were on them.</p><p>For once, Remus was grateful he wasn’t walking alone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>don't we love a pair of beards aw</p><p>as always, if there are any mistakes please lmk :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Boy That Cried Wolf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn’t often that Remus went to bed early and got more than five hours of sleep; specially not the night before a full moon. He had dined with his friends and excused himself as soon as he had gulped down the last of his third serving of fried sausages and mashed potatoes; he had already started noticing some students looking at him with more curiosity than ever before and he wanted to avoid the unwanted attention for as long as possible. He made his way towards the Gryffindor common room, his hips aching from the proximity to the full moon. He was luckily the first to arrive and could brush his teeth, change into his night clothes and draw his curtains before his friends returned to the dormitory. He pretended to be asleep as the two Gryffindor boy rummaged through their trunks and broke free from their black and red robes, knowing he’d have to break the news if they sensed he was awake. He was so focused on making his act believable that, eventually, he fell asleep.</p><p>He was awoken from his slumber by a rather harsh blow to his face. He ignored it, hoping whoever was stupid enough to bother a sleeping werewolf would go away, but a second, rougher hit made him open his eyes at once.</p><p>“What the fuck is your problem?” he asked with his hoarse morning voice as he covered his eyes from the sunlight that was peering through the red curtains.</p><p>“Remus John Lupin,” James replied, with a smirk on his face.</p><p>“That’s the name of the wolf that will rough you up if you don’t let him go back to sleep.”</p><p>“Get up, you big oaf,” Peter prodded him and then had to jump back as Remus sat on his bed and feinted a blow to his arm.</p><p>“Sod off and let me sleep,” he answered, trying to close the drapes that hung from his bedframe.</p><p>“Bollocks. You have been withholding information. Speak. Now,” James intervened, pulling the quilt from his bed.</p><p>“What are you on about? It’s seven in the fucking morning.”</p><p>“You know exactly what we’re talking about,” Peter replied with a wicked grin on his face. “Has to do with a certain blonde with glorious, thick thighs and a pair of enormous—”</p><p>“Fuck off, Pete.”</p><p>“Yeah, fuck off, Pete. That’s no way to speak of your mate’s <em>girlfriend,</em>” James seconded, hitting the back of his knees with a pillow.</p><p>“Oh, yeah,” Remus replied, finally catching up. “<em>That</em>”.</p><p>“When were you going to tell us?” James asked.</p><p>“Eventually,” he groaned.</p><p>“How did it happen? You never said anything,” Peter inquired, searching for his books in the mess under his bed.</p><p>“Well… We’ve always had a thing for each other, I guess. It was only a matter of time,” Remus vaguely replied as he got up, his hopes of sleeping for another hour dying down as his friends harassed him with questions.</p><p>“Look at you, dating the second best-looking seventh year,” James finally said, once they’d squeezed every last bit of information Remus was willing to give out.</p><p>“Didn’t know you had it in you,” Peter added, elbowing his ribs. “You’ve bested us all.”</p><p>They went down the stairs for breakfast, leaving Remus to change into his school robes. He had to sit down for a minute, feeling his temper rise at any slight interaction. The hours prior to a full moon were always challenging, but he knew he’d had to muster any bit of composure he had left to get through the day; he wasn’t sure his fists would obey his mind if he heard any comments regarding his relationship with Marlene.</p><p>He looked in the mirror: his light-brown hair was tousled and he wouldn’t bother trying to comb it; he merely ran his fingers through it, trying to shake the feeling of his pillow pressed to the left side of his head, and adjusted the silver-looking earring that dangled from his ear. The shading of his week-old beard, that had been neatly trimmed before returning to school, was starting to show in the shape of stubble. His hazel eyes caught the sunbeams and looked greenish near his pupils, which were adjusting to the morning light. The scar that run across his mouth, from the left side of his upper lip to the right of the lower, was more noticeable under the light that was lazily engulfing the room as the sun rose in the sky; during his second year, he had tried to learn how to cast concealment charms to hide his more prominent scars. Peter had caught him reading about them in a book he had borrowed from Mary and had laughed so hard that he earned himself a foul punch to his gutter. Ever since then, afraid his friends could start assuming things, he’d just decided to show his scars. He knew people were equally afraid and allured by him; some whispered he fought in underground clubs, other rumours said he was part of the roughest gang in East London. He was shrouded in a mist of danger and mysteriousness that left people wanting to get to know him more; that impression quickly vanished around his friends. Even though he was still the toughest in his friend group, their friends softened him up and he didn’t feel like a lone wolf with Lily’s hugs, Marlene’s jokes, when Mary was confiding in him or James and Peter were messing around. He had his pack and he knew he needed nothing more.</p><p>He finally grabbed his bag and went downstairs; none of his friends were on sight and he was relieved, dreading the moment he finally saw them and would have to start answering questions again. But as soon as he set foot in the common room, he was met with a dozen different grinning faces. He discreetly looked back, wondering if there was something going on behind him and he hadn’t noticed as he went down the red-carpeted stairs; he then realised they were looking at him.</p><p>He decided to move as fast as he could, but on his way to the portrait he couldn’t escape the giggles and the congratulatory howls.</p><p>“Way to go, Lupin.”</p><p>“Top job, mate!”</p><p>“Nice one, Remus.”</p><p>Some of the Gryffindor boys even patted him on the back as he walked across the room and it took all of Remus’s will not to turn around and hit them senseless. He didn’t remember James or Peter ever getting the amount of attention he was receiving, not even after they won Quidditch games; he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that, as he walked towards the Great Hall, people he had never spoken to during his years at Hogwarts were smiling or congratulating him because of who he was dating.</p><p>He decided to get to his friends by walking as close as he could to the wall, hoping no one would spot him and he could sit down and miserably eat his breakfast. He was about to succeed but his height gave him away and Lily spotted him from where she was sitting at the Gryffindor table.</p><p>“Remus Lupin!” she almost shouted, pointing a finger at him, making everyone’s heads turn.</p><p>“Merlin, I’m going to murder you” he whined as he sat in front of her.</p><p>“Not if I do it first,” the ginger replied, as she glared at him. “How come I had to find out from <em>Potter </em>that you’re dating Marlene?”</p><p>She purposefully emphasised the “P” in James’s last name, as if the fact that it was <em>him </em>who knew first was the biggest betrayal. Remus poured himself a cup of tea and filled his plate to the brim, without looking at his infuriated best friend.</p><p>“See, Evans, you would’ve been the first to find out if you had slept in our dormitory. There’s always room for you in my bed,” James replied as he hugged her from her shoulders.</p><p>“Blow me, Potter.”</p><p>“Gladly.”</p><p>Remus decided to interfere before James lost an eye. “Sorry I didn’t tell you, Lils. These two just prodded me for answers. If I had planned it, you would’ve known.”</p><p>That seemed to distract Lily from trying to hex James. “Mary knew first, too.”</p><p>“Yeah, because she saw us kissing,” Remus replied, and he had to keep himself from shuddering at the memory of having snogged Marlene in front of their friend.</p><p>He was about to explain further when James kicked him under the table. He signalled with his head and Remus watched as Marlene approached them, the same annoyed expression on her face.</p><p>“<em>Here we go</em>,” Remus thought.</p><p>She was about to sit next to Mary, but their friend slid on the bench, making room next to Remus. He fought the urge to roll his eyes; if they were already bothering them from the first day, they’d better prepare for the long months ahead of them.</p><p>Marlene smiled and gave Remus a kiss on the cheek. Everyone around them smiled.</p><p>“I didn’t know you were such a prude, Rem,” Peter said with an evil grin.</p><p>“Sod off. I don’t feel like having all of you staring like a bunch of wankers at eight in the fucking morning,” he replied, as he passed the butter to Marlene.</p><p>“Didn’t seem like you minded yesterday,” Mary answered as Remus’s cheeks grew red.</p><p>“Let them be,” Lily said, winking at the pair, her anger evaporated. “Go on, finish your breakfasts. We’ll have all the time in the world to watch the lovebirds.”</p><p>“Cheers, babe,” Marlene replied and proceeded to drink her coffee.</p><p>When they were sure everyone else was minding their business, Remus and Marlene looked at each other.</p><p>“This is a bloody nightmare,” Marlene declared, pretty much summing up Remus’s thoughts.</p><p>“They were <em>cheering on me</em>. As if I had just won the Quidditch cup,” he replied. “D’you think this is a good idea?”</p><p>“Well, there will be more of a fuss if we break up now. I say we let them talk until they eventually grow tired,” she answered, as she brushed a fallen eyelash from his cheek.</p><p>He heard someone to his right swooning with delight and when he turned around, the whole table was looking at them. He realised Marlene and him had always been close, kissed on the cheek or hugged and nobody had thought much about it; now that the whole school knew they were dating, every single thing they did together earned them a squeal from the nearest crowd.</p><p>Remus buried his head in his arms as Marlene patted his back. “Kill me now, Mar. Please end this suffering.”</p><p>“Don’t you dare,” she replied. “I’m too young and beautiful to be a widow.”</p><p>Remus laughed and, a few minutes later, followed her and the rest of the group out of the Great Hall and towards their first class of the day. He was about to walk faster to catch up to James and Peter when he heard Lily’s voice calling his name.</p><p>“Hey, Rem, can I speak to you for a second?”</p><p>“Sure, what about?” he replied as he slowed his pace to match his friend’s.</p><p>“So, this thing with Mar, is it… real?” she asked cautiously.</p><p>“Well, yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” he quickly answered as he felt his heartbeat quickening.</p><p>“You know, because of what happened at the Quidditch World Cup,” she said, looking into his eyes, trying to find a confirmation for her suspicions. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t be into… <em>her</em>.”</p><p>“Oh, right,” Remus muttered. “I was just drunk and confused, it was stupid. I barely remember it. We’re good with Marlene, she’s… awesome.”</p><p>Saying he “barely remembered it” was the biggest lie he had ever told, and that was saying a lot considering he was a werewolf in disguise. Not only did he remember, but he thought about it every single night; his mind couldn’t help wandering back to that memory.</p><p>“Well then,” Lily replied, unconvincingly. “I’m happy you’re happy.”</p><p>“You’ll be even happier when James starts asking you to go on double dates with us,” he said sarcastically, smirking as he hugged her by the shoulders and placed a kiss on top of her head.</p><p> “Please, don’t give him any ideas,” she whispered as they walked towards their Transfiguration class.</p><p>“I didn’t have to, he’s already made plans for the four of us,” Remus responded and let out a laugh as Lily tensed under his arm.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Pain.</em>
</p><p><em>Excruciating pain is all the wolf felt. It howled at the wooden ceiling as it felt its limbs growing, its spine breaking and rebuilding itself a million times and its teeth clashing against each other as they made room for its fangs, which broke through the gums in a blizzard of red. Its nails were no longer human and they left four paths on the floor as they screeched against the wooden floorboards. </em>The back of the trousers Remus had been wearing tore<em> and left space for the tail that had beginning to grow on the wolf’s behind. Its face was glued to the floor as the animal closed its eyes tightly and felt its skin tear apart to make room for the fur that was beginning to spur out of its pores as if it were weed in the midst of a neatly trimmed pasture. Its nose, its mouth, its neck; everything was a blur as the wolf shapeshifted into its full-moon form. It whined only once more when it felt the weight of its pointy ears atop its head and then, it was over. </em></p><p><em>The wolf carefully rose, trying to shake off the stiffness of having been in its human form for another month. </em>It wasn’t often Remus kept his human thoughts while in his wolf form, but that night, every memory was especially vivid; the times when Remus’s mind was half devoted to his human thoughts and the other half, his animal side, wanting to override anything else and just be, were the most exhausting (physically and mentally). And because of that, the only thing he wanted was to run around the Forbidden Forest with his friends, feel the breeze on his face and forget everything else.</p><p><em>The wolf’s ears perked up as it heard the hidden trapdoor open; from there, it could see a magnificent stag, its antlers almost reaching the ceiling, and a tiny, grey rat perched upon them. It heard the sound of the animal’s hooves against the floor, </em>as if it was James and not the stag, and he was impatiently tapping his foot to the ground as he did whenever Remus took too long to find one of his sweaters and he made them late for Quidditch practice.</p><p>
  <em>With one single jump, the wolf was out of the decaying house and began running towards the tall trees and the smell of damp grass. Its claws barely touched the ground as it made its way towards the darkest part of the forest, its ears at the ready in case there was another sound besides the huffing of the stag or the squeals of the rat. It stopped in front of a tree and it smelled its own scent all over its roots; it instantly knew that was its tree. With one swift movement, its claws were out and being sharpened against the trunk. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>The wolf felt a nudge to its back and turned around, its stance ready to fight, only to realise it was the stag who was playfully prodding its ribs with its antlers. The wolf relaxed and started jumping around, circling the bigger animal, trying to make it fall. Their game went on for three more hours, being interrupted by the occasional sounds the rat made or by one of them running and having the other chase them. </em>
</p><p><em>And then, </em>the memory of that night flooded Remus’s brain like a tsunami rampaging everything along the shore: a pair of pale hands, tearing his clothes off his body and letting them drip like blood onto the floor; jet-black hair tangled under his fingertips, the feeling of skin against his own, sweat dripping from his forehead, the thrusting movement of his hips that increased as he felt closer to the stars that coated the night sky.</p><p><em>The wolf howled and the stag stood tall, ready to defend itself if needed. The time for playing was over: the wolf was hungry. As the other animal sensed its change in behaviour, it tried to stop the brown-furred creature from running away, but to no avail. The stag’s legs were no match to the wolf’s large strides and they didn’t stop running until the bigger animal smelled blood; there, a few metres away, it spotted a Kneazle slumbering at the roots of a gigantic tree. The wolf was about to jump when the stag stopped it and forced it to look into its eyes: the wolf’s weren’t animal-looking; they were a deep hazel hue that reflected the moonlight. The wolf seemed to struggle internally, </em>Remus tried to refocus his energy in something else, but in the end <em>it simply turned around and, with one long jump, landed on top of the defenceless animal, snapping its spine in half. </em>Remus was at least relieved to know it was a painless death, that the creature hadn’t had a chance to look him in the eyes<em>. The wolf buried its fangs in the Kneazle’s fur and the smell of blood drove him to a frenzy; </em>Remus remembered how his nails had drawn lines onto a pale back<em> and the wolf used its claws to carelessly tear the animal apart. </em>Remus’s last thought was that he couldn’t shake the feeling of his mouth kissing, nibbling at earlobes, leaving wet trails <em>and the wolf bit and tore and swallowed. The wolf finally won the battle and so it stopped only after the hair near its mouth was dripping red and the white on its teeth was no longer visible. It walked a few steps towards the stag and the rat, none of which had emitted a single sound during the whole scene, and dropped at their feet, burying its head in between its legs. The stag lowered to the ground beside it and the rat jumped to the wolf’s head, its little feet patting at a soothing rhythm that made the animal doze off.</em></p><p>
  <em>The wolf woke up an hour later, looking up at the sky that was losing its black dye. The stag was already on its feet and the rat was back on its antlers; the wolf rose and took a deep breath.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The wolf smelled the night shifting into the day and with that, the scent of change.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Something was coming. Someone was coming. It could feel it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They ran towards the crooked wooden construction and the wolf was alone again.</em>
</p><p>Remus awoke, a few minutes later, drenched in sweat and feeling new scars on his legs, his torso and his back. He sat up against the wall right behind his mattress and tasted iron. He knew there was an agreement between his friends and him; when his friends told him they wanted to keep him company during full moons, he had agreed only if they promised never to remind him the things he’d done the night before.</p><p>As he looked out the broken window, waiting for Poppy to knock on the door, he was left to wonder what had happened that night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The alternation between italics and normal font during the wolf's POV is purposeful.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Newcomers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Yes, like that, just like that. For fuck’s sake Marlene, grip harder! Right there, yes, keep going,” Remus’s voice was commanding.</p><p>The two Gryffindors were in the boys’ dormitory, after having kicked out James and Peter, and a very annoyed Remus was trying to help Marlene with her Charms assignment. After a few weeks of fake-dating, they realised that, whenever they left their friends, they were followed by whistles and laughter; their friends always thought they were leaving to be alone. It was annoying for the both of them, because they could never exit quietly and everyone around them ended up realising due to their group cat-calling them. They decided it would be easier for them to <em>know </em>what the both were up to, so they began kicking out their roommates from their rooms every few days; it didn’t take them long to realise that those were the only times when they could be quiet, since their usually loud friends weren’t around, and they could actually get more work done that any other time. They started meeting up more often, even though it earned Remus some more harassment from his friends (“You have to be more careful, Lupin, or it’ll break in half,” Peter would say, before running away from Remus’s fist’s range. “Yeah, Remus, eat some bananas or the cramps will kill you,” James would add, as they both laughed at the expense of their friend, out of amusement. And a little bit out of jealousy, too).</p><p>Remus was sitting on the floor against the frame of his bed, with his chin almost touching his knees, and Marlene was propped against his legs while he tried to teach her how to properly cast <em>Ascendio. </em>They had grabbed Peter’s and James’s pillows and stuck them to the ceiling, just in case, but Remus wasn’t seeing much improvement. It was probably due to the fact that his friend complained for longer than she actually tried to pronounce the word correctly; even though she was excellent at duelling and knew almost every useful spell (whenever Dumbledore gave them private lessons, along with the rest of the students that would join the Order once they finished school, she would beat everyone at individual duelling, including James, who was one of the most capable wizards Remus had ever known), she rarely paid any attention to Flitwick’s classes. Remus had heard rumours, something about their professor catching her saying that she didn’t know how “Hogwarts professors are putting so much effort into Christmas decorations, when dressing Flitwick in an elf costume and making him give out gifts to students is clearly the best thing they could do”, but none of that had ever been confirmed by the blonde; although it wouldn’t have surprised Remus in the slightest.</p><p>“Come on, Mar,” he repeated, for the fifth time since they had locked the door. “You only have to point to the sky and pronounce clearly. It’s the easiest spell we’ve been taught this year.”</p><p>“You’re the worst friend ever, did you know that?” she replied, although still trying to cast the spell. “I’m tired and I’m hungry.”</p><p>“That’s what they all say after we shag,” he joked, pinching her cheek. “Just make sure to look famished at dinner so they know I did a good job.”</p><p>“Oh, my love, you couldn’t exhaust me even if you wanted to,” she replied sarcastically. “You wouldn’t be able to take all this; my heavenly arse would snap you in half.”</p><p>Remus started tickling her and Marlene didn’t stand a chance; his slender fingers knew exactly where to touch to send his friend into a fit of giggles. She was trying to drive his hands away from her, but she was shaking uncontrollably and wasn’t too successful. She managed to kick his shin and, in that moment of confusion, rolled over her side and quickly stood up, sprinting towards the bathroom to keep Remus from tickling her again. He was quick to recover and followed her; in a sudden burst of inspiration, Marlene shouted “<em>Ascendio!”</em>, intending to reach the panel atop his four-poster bed. Miraculously, she finally managed to cast it correctly; however, she miscalculated and ended up falling to the ground, not before her shirt got caught by one of the poster’s pointed tip. She landed on her feet, seeing as it wasn’t a great fall, but the fabric ripped, leaving her shoulder uncovered and a reddening cut that didn’t look too deep.</p><p>“Fuck, are you okay?” Remus asked, forcing her to sit on the bed and grabbing her arm to inspect the wound.</p><p>“You owe me a new shirt,” she simply responded, feigning anger, but not too realistically seeing as she was still smiling.</p><p>“It isn’t my fault you were so daft so as to try to attempt that,” he responded, ruffling her hair even more.</p><p>There was an unspoken agreement that they’d had enough studying for the day, so they fell back onto the bed and lay there, shoulder on shoulder, looking at the bed’s upper panel and talking about whatever came to their minds. At one point, Marlene started narrating what had happened at their last Quidditch practice and he turned to his side, propped on his elbow and looking straight at her. He was so used to her familiar figure that he rarely ever took the time to really look at her: her perfectly blonde, shoulder-length, wavy hair, her upturned nose, the curve of her neck, her big breasts that were highlighted by her tight shirt, the way that same shirt also highlighted her stomach and rose up to her bellybutton when she was relaxed, the portion of skin that hung loosely over her skirt’s waist, her thighs that could wrap around someone’s body like a python snake and crush them effortlessly… He surveyed her as he would survey an Antipodean Opaleye, the most beautiful dragon: he could admire the beauty from afar, acknowledge every single enthralling detail, but he would never dare come close or touch its scales. He knew that, from up close, the dragon wasn’t as enchanting and he risked getting burnt.</p><p>He could think, just from the top of his head, of at least ten boys that would kill to be in his exact position: lying in bed next to the most beautiful seventh-year girl, his arm under her neck and her hand casually playing with his hair. He knew he should be feeling something, anything, other than the feeling of easiness he was feeling at that exact moment; he had always suspected it, but there was something extremely wrong with him. Maybe it was his werewolf condition; maybe he was left with more side effects than just turning into a dangerous ball of fur once a month.</p><p>Deep down, he knew that wasn’t entirely true; he knew he was capable of feeling the kind of things he was supposed to when he was near a girl, because he once had. But he spent every waking moment trying to erase that memory from his mind.</p><p>A loud knock on the door made the both of them sit up, before remembering they had cast a spell on the lock. They heard James’s voice come from the other side of the door:</p><p>“Oi, lovebirds! You’ve been there for over an hour and I seriously doubt Remus has that much energy,” he shouted from outside, followed by a snigger that could only belong to Peter.</p><p>“Yeah, Marlene, McGonagall wants to see you. Says you’ve earned detention for leaving our friend’s willy out of order for the next month and a half,” he added and Marlene laughed quietly to Remus’s annoyance.</p><p>“See you at dinner, lover,” she said as she parted, kissing his cheek.</p><p>She opened the door just as James had his wand out and was pointing at the doorknob; they froze in place, looking guilty, as she just stared at them with one eyebrow arched.</p><p>James quickly straightened up and hid his wand behind his body; Marlene was ready to leave, but just then, Peter spotted her ripped sleeve and the red scratch on her shoulder.</p><p>He whistled loudly. “Remus, mate, no need to turn into a savage before the full moon.”</p><p>Remus’s face grew red and both Marlene and James smacked the back of Peter’s neck, making him duck and make a run for his bed.</p><p>“Shut up, Pete,” James added, going into the room. “He’s not a savage, what the fuck is wrong with you?”</p><p>“Sorry, mate,” he said apologetically, looking at his scarred friend. “You know what I meant.”</p><p>“Yeah, Pete, I know,” Remus simply replied. He knew what the wizarding community thought of people like him. He was used to hearing it.</p><p>“It’s not okay, Pete,” James insisted, his arms folded on his chest and glaring at the tiny boy.</p><p>“Drop it, James, that’s enough,” Remus quickly added, too tired to argue.</p><p>James was still glaring at Peter as the three of them got ready for dinner, putting their ties back on and straightening their school robes. The air was tense, but Remus wasn’t interested in letting James lecture their other friend: after all, he <em>was </em>a savage, whether James liked it or not. He was just not in the mood to receive the raven-haired boy’s words on how he was just like every other person and that his condition didn’t make him any less human. He knew it did; he knew most people thought so, too.</p><p>“So,” he spoke, breaking the silence. “The Castelobruxo and Beauxbatons students arrive today. Who’d you think will be the poshest? The French or the Slytherins?”</p><p>“Definitely the French,” Peter quickly jumped in, grateful to have an opportunity to look away from James. “They always look like they have shit under their noses.”</p><p>“I’ve heard the Beauxbatons students are either pureblood supremacists from ancient families or their deviated offspring,” James added, finally dropping his gaze. “Maybe there will be friendly people, too. I love friendly French women.”</p><p>At that, the three of them laughed, Remus a little too eagerly. All forgotten, they went down for dinner.</p><p>The excitement in the atmosphere could be easily sensed as the students from the four houses were instructed to sit closer to each other, leaving spare room for their guests. Remus sat down, on one side of James, Lily on his other side and Marlene right in front of him. She had changed out of her teared shirt and winked at him when he joined them. The food wasn’t on the table yet, but Remus’s stomach started growling with the thought of everything he’d be able to eat that night.</p><p>Once everybody had settled down, Dumbledore rose from his seat and the room fell quiet.</p><p>“My dearest students,” he began, with a warm smile. “It is our great pleasure to serve as the Triwizard Tournament’s hosts this year. As such, I must ask you to be at your best and behave accordingly.”</p><p>He spoke for the whole room, but as he said that last phrase, his eyes fell on the Gryffindor table, and Remus could swear he was looking straight at where he and his friends were sitting.</p><p>“We will be welcoming our brothers and sisters from Castelobruxo and Beauxbatons. Besides this being an occasion for harmless, friendly competition, I encourage you to use this as an opportunity to form new alliances and, why not, getting to know the new students in depth.”</p><p>A chorus of laughter echoed across the room and Remus had to contain himself from sighing; he wasn’t mentally prepared to deal with a whole year of hormonal teenagers pining over foreigners. He just hoped his friends wouldn’t be too insufferable about it.</p><p>“Now, without further ado, let’s give a warm welcome to the Castelobruxo delegation.”</p><p>All their heads turned towards the big doors, expectant, but for a few minutes nothing happened. Just as the students were starting to whisper, a loud crash made them jump in their seats; the glass in both the biggest windows in the Great Hall had exploded and two strong vines snaked in, twirling around and above their heads. They touched and multiplied, and as more of them grew, they expanded towards the walls. Soon enough, the four walls were covered in green and little blossoms began appearing everywhere; the tip of two of the vines slithered towards the big doors, curled around the handles and pushed them open.</p><p>Remus immediately recognised the Castelobruxo delegation. A group of twenty people dressed in vivid green robes marched into the room and he marvelled at the diversity among their ranks: some had skin as dark as night, some others were as pale as the moon, some sun kissed after spending too many hours working outside. They all looked different from each other, and yet there was a sense of cohesion as they strode forward, elegantly, some of their wands raised and pointing at the vines and some others carrying brightly coloured birds on their shoulders. Up front, an elegant woman dressed in the same hue of green was leading the group, escorted by two girls and two boys. One of the boys had curls, dimples and green eyes so deep they contrasted against his uniform and the other had paler skin and light brown hair and Remus decided to look away from them, finding himself uncomfortable at how much he was staring. One of the girls, the one closest to who Remus suspected to be the Headmistress, looked tough with her curls that reached the nape of her neck, her impenetrable stare and the gigantic bird she was so effortlessly carrying on her extended arm. The other looked the exact opposite, with skin the colour of autumn leaves, a loose braid that rested on her shoulder and such warm eyes that Remus couldn’t stop looking at them.</p><p>As they strode past them, Remus turned his head to follow their movements; when he did, he noticed Marlene’s eyes were gazing with marvel at the front row of the retinue.</p><p>“<em>Bem-vinda, Marielle</em> [Welcome, Marielle],” Dumbledore greeted the woman at the front of the line. They shook hands affectionately as if they had known each other for a long time.</p><p>“I’ve read about her,” Lily whispered in his ear. “That’s Marielle Oliveira de Sousa, Catelobruxo’s first female headmistress. She was accepted only after she helped the school get rid of an infestation of fire slugs. She’s amazing.”</p><p>Remus could feel the admiration dripping from his friend’s words and he appreciated she knew far more things than him and always shared them, so he wouldn’t feel too lost.</p><p>He turned as he heard a low whistle from Mary, who was sitting next to Marlene. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know dimple boy over there.”</p><p>Remus thought that, had he been a girl, he most definitely would have seconded that. The two boys at the front had polar opposite features, but both were remarkably good-looking.</p><p>“I’m going to introduce myself to the ladies after dinner,” James said, ruffling his hair. “Just in case they need my Head Boy expertise to have a good time while they’re here.”</p><p>Peter and Remus laughed, as Lily glared at him from the other side of the table; as soon as he noticed the ginger’s eyes, he fell silent again. Lily gave Remus a smug smile before turning to the front of the Great Hall again, where the Castelobruxo students were already finding their seats in the four tables. Only a handful of them sat near where the group of friends was, including the two girls and one of the boys that had been standing at the front of the formation.</p><p>“<em>¡Hola! ¡Bienvenidos!</em> [Hello! Welcome!]” James greeted them. “My name is James and these are my pals, Remus and Peter. We can offer you a tour whenever you’re free.”</p><p>Two girls on the far end of the table giggled, and James smiled charmingly at them. Peter was smirking too, and took his index and middle finger to his forehead, saluting. A third girl joined the other two and they began whispering excitedly in a language Remus didn’t speak.</p><p>“Since when do you know Spanish?” Lily asked, trying to mask how impressed she was.</p><p>“The language of love is universal, <em>ma chérie</em> [my dear],” he answered, winking at the amused girl. “I can teach you whenever you want.”</p><p>Lily rolled her eyes and dismissed him, but Remus noticed her slightly red cheeks and the smile that was threatening to take over her lips. He smiled, too, deciding not to comment on it.</p><p> </p><p>“And now that our first group of guests is settled,” Dumbledore suddenly spoke again, immediately hushing all the chattering. “Let us welcome our guests from Beauxbatons Academy.”</p><p>The students didn’t know where to look, so some kept their gaze fixed on the doors while the others looked at the ceiling, at the windows or even at the small door behind the professor’s table. A coat of sheer silence covered the whole room, and then, a faint buzzing sound started getting louder somewhere near the entrance doors. The buzzing got nearer and then, they saw it: a wave of crystal clear water barged into the Great Hall, making everyone gasp and instinctively cover their heads with their arms, but hovered above their heads. Two light-blue robed students followed it, their wands pointed directly at the mass of water that was crashing against the walls and resembling more and more the unruly tide of the ocean when there’s a storm. Suddenly, the students dropped their wands and an echo of screams arose from the ones sitting; but before they could get wet, a third student pointed his wand confidently and sent a wave of freezing wind in its direction. The water seemed to slow down its fall, as it solidified, an eventually turned every little splatter into perfect snowflakes that tangled between the Hogwarts and Castelobruxo’s student’s hairs. At last, a fourth student entered the room, kneeled and sent a stream of fire to meet the ice; they clashed, and for a moment, the whole room turned red. The yellow in the flames seemed to take over and in the end, the ice was no longer there; instead, it started raining golden pebbles all around the room. When Remus picked one up, he realised they looked suspiciously similar to real gold.</p><p>He looked up at his friends, who were as awestruck as he was; their hands were extended, palms up, as they allowed the pebbles to fall into them. Remus looked back at the students, wondering how old they were since they were performing such complex magic, and then, he saw him.</p><p>Remus’s world stopped spinning.</p><p>The boy who had cast the fire charm had the same black, shoulder-length hair he remembered. Half of it was tied in a loose bun atop his head and it was almost too perfect, shining under the lights of the candles. The smoothness of his skin was unnatural and the grey in his eyes looked like the sky on Remus’s favourite rainy days; it was a light grey surrounding the black orbs that absorbed all the light from the room. The first time he had seen him, it had been dark; he didn’t remember anything other than his French cursing and the feeling of his damp skin under his fingers. But now, under the lights of the Great Hall, he could take in everything from the colour of his eyes to the smirk that had taken over his lips after receiving the praise of the entire room. He seemed to live for the show and thrive in the sound of applause. There was an effortless elegance in every one of his moves, as if he knew the world would bend under his fingertips if he graciously asked it to do so.</p><p>As he got up from his kneeling position, he and the other students bowed and started marching ahead, followed by the rest of the pupils. He was walking tall and casually twirling his wand between his fingers. Remus hid his face, pretending he was examining the cutlery in front of him, but as he walked right behind him, he dared look up and watch him strut. But the boy stopped a few centimetres away from where he was sitting and sniffed, as if he was a lion that had suddenly caught the scent of its pray; he turned around and his eyes immediately fixed on Remus’s. It lasted for less than a second, but he saw the recognition at the back of his pupils and how his mouth slightly opened, forming a perfect “O” that would’ve been comical in any other situation. He seemed to realise he was holding back the line, so he turned back around and continued walking to the front of the room, as if nothing had happened.</p><p>Remus’s hands started sweating and he had to keep them on his lap so his friends wouldn’t notice they were trembling, too. But it didn’t work with Lily, who instantly knew something was wrong.</p><p>“Hey, Rem, you’re looking paler than usual. Are you okay?” she asked in his ear, in case he didn’t want his friends to know something was wrong.</p><p>“It’s him, Lily, at the front with the long, black hair,” he simply whispered, unable to produce another coherent thought.</p><p>“I see him, but who is he?” she asked, craning her neck to get a better view of the boy her friend was referring to.</p><p>“The French guy I got with at the Quidditch World Cup,” he replied. “It’s him.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, comments regarding any mistakes you may find are highly appreciated :) The updates are slow because I'm still working on finishing my other fic, that has 3 chapters left. I'll update more regularly as soon as I can.<br/>I hope you're having a fantastic day, wherever you are</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Hide-And-Seek</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm so sorry it took me this long to update! I was busy finishing my other fic and with a personal project. Updates will now be (hopefully) more frequent (if college allows it, that is).<br/>Thank you for your patience! I hope you enjoy this chapter :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the first day after the Beauxbatons and Castelobruxo students had arrived and Remus had resolved he would avoid at all costs the common areas. In fact, that same morning, he was heading towards the kitchens so he could have his breakfast away from all the other students. He thought it unlikely he would be able to maintain that routine for the rest of the year, but he would surely try. Anything was better than facing the familiar faces he didn’t want to see.</p><p>He had already walked past the Hufflepuff common room and was savouring the taste of victory and sweet, strawberry jam on toast when he ran into Lily. He realised it was his friend too late and by the time he tried to hide behind a nearby door, the ginger had already recognised him. As she walked towards him with confusion written all over her features, he cursed himself mentally for having forgotten the fact that part of Lily’s Head Girl duties included patrolling the Hufflepuff corridor, so she could make sure no one was sneaking off while everyone was distracted at the Great Hall.</p><p>Bloody Lily and her intelligence. He doomed himself by choosing her as his best friend.</p><p>“Remus? What are you doing here?” she asked as she finally got close enough to speak in a normal tone.</p><p>Every time Lily was standing that close to him, Remus got the irrational urge to ruffle the hairs at the top of her head or grab her by the middle of her torso and spin her around; he wanted to, but he never would unless he wanted to lose a hand. He easily towered over her, being at least twenty centimetres taller, and yet the height difference didn’t help him whenever she used her Head Girl stare on him. Remus secretly believed she had been chosen for that exact reason: she was undeniably the top of her class, but no student could rebel against her piercing green eyes and the way they seemed to turn the heavy green of moss whenever she was scolding you. There was no one sweeter than Lily, but there was also no one more terrifying.</p><p>“I’m just stretching my legs a bit,” he answered casually. “I finished breakfast early so I thought I’d walk around for a bit.”</p><p>Lily looked suspiciously at him. “That’s funny,” she said, eyeing him up and down. “I ran into Peter a few minutes ago and he was under the impression that you weren’t in the Great Hall; he went looking for you.”</p><p>“Oh, you know Pete,” Remus quickly added, trying to divert her suspicions. “He was so asleep he didn’t see me there. He’s not really one to enjoy mornings.”</p><p>“Remus,” she said, and the boy didn’t know his own name could sound so much like an accusation.</p><p>“Lily,” he replied, with a bright, charming smile.</p><p>“Your charms won’t work on me, you cheeky bastard,” she answered, nudging his ribs. “What are you <em>really </em>doing here?”</p><p>Remus sighed as he tried to decide whether coming up with an excuse would be more draining tan just telling his best friend the truth. He knew there was no point in hiding things from her, because as much as James had always told him he was a huge mystery, Lily seemed to have always been able to read him like an open book. He just wasn’t sure he was ready to admit what was really going on out loud.</p><p>But he might as well try.</p><p>“I just don’t want to go into the Great Hall,” he finally admitted. “I don’t want to see the new students.”</p><p>“All the new students or just a particular one?” she asked gently, although she already knew the answer.</p><p>“I don’t want to see him. What if he remembers me? What if he tells anyone?”</p><p>“Rem, you won’t be able to ignore him for the rest of the year. What was your plan, skip every meal for the rest of his time here at Hogwarts?”</p><p>“Maybe,” he replied, although he knew how stupid it sounded. Of course he wouldn’t be able to pull that off, but in the midst of his morning crisis, he hadn’t stopped to think how suspicious it would make him look.</p><p>“You’re smarter than that. Besides, no one says you’ll have to <em>talk </em>to him. Maybe he doesn’t even remember you.”</p><p>Remus knew Lily was just trying to be supportive and make him realise how dumb his original plan sounded. He knew she only wanted to help. But as soon as those words came out of her mouth, a brooding monster that Remus had put to sleep long ago started awakening and he felt an unsettling sensation on the pit of his stomach. There was something about the thought of the boy not remembering that night, the night when Remus’s life changed, the night he couldn’t stop thinking about, that felt deeply wrong. If he could still relieve every second they’d spent behind those tents, hidden behind that large tree in the deserted forest, panting and sweating in unison: was it possible the other boy did as well? But why would Remus want him to remember?</p><p>“Yeah, maybe,” he conceded, putting his thoughts aside. He didn’t want to think. Too many thoughts clouded his head.</p><p>“Come on; a big, manly werewolf like yourself needs his three meals a day,” she said, jokingly, as she looped her arm around his.</p><p>“Don’t ever say that again, I think I might die,” he joked back.</p><p>“What? <em>Big, manly, astonishingly strong, incredibly charming werewolf?” </em>she teasingly whispered as she pushed him towards the Great Hall. “Or do you prefer ‘<em>Oh, Remus, he’s so generous, so kind and so chivalrous. Oh, Remus, with his fair hair so soft the clouds would be jealous, his smile so bright like the sun, his scars so sexy like—</em>”</p><p>Remus’s cheeks were flaming hot when he finally interrupted his friends’ teasing. He put a hand over her mouth, to which Lily reacted by running away, laughing. With two long strides he caught up to her, grabbed her with both hands by the waist and carried her towards the entrance of the Great Hall, while she laughed, kicked and cursed him with a language incredibly inappropriate for a Head Girl. He only released her when they reached their table, causing so much commotion that every head turned to watch the entertaining scene unfold: when they saw it was Remus who was starring it, they quickly returned to their chatter, being used to the group of boys acting disorderly.</p><p>Remus was in such a good mood that he sat beside Marlene and kissed her head, forgetting all about his previous worries.</p><p>“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said, winking at her.</p><p>“Morning, handsome,” she replied, but when everyone looked away, reacted by pretending to gag.</p><p>“Where were you, Remus? I came looking for you,” Peter asked, while he reached out for a piece of pie.</p><p>“Just stretching my legs,” he replied, helping himself to some toast. “The moon left my joints aching.”</p><p>“And working your charms on my future wife was part of your morning routine too, Lupin?” James asked, as he threw a piece of bread across the table that hit Remus on the forehead.</p><p>“Hey, Potter, he’s a betrothed man now,” Marlene replied before he could, hitting the raven-haired boy’s head with her newspaper. “And besides, Lily has her eye on someone else.”</p><p>Lily, who was drinking her tea and ignoring James’s ogling as she usually did, choked on her drink and had to be pat in the back by Mary before she could speak again. Her eyes were watery and open wide.</p><p>“Marlene!” she shouted, with a strangled voice, as soon as she got the liquid out of her airways. “Stop blabbering.”</p><p>But judging from her reaction, Marlene had certainly hit the nail on the head. James’s eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at the ginger in confusion.</p><p>“Who’s this other man? I shall battle for your honour, m’lady,” he replied, quickly composed, as he got up from his seat and bowed curtly.</p><p>“Sit back down, Potter,” Lily said, not wanting to be the centre of attention again. “Marlene was just joking. And I don’t need <em>you</em> to defend my honour, I’m more than capable of doing it myself.”</p><p>“Oh, but I’m not,” Marlene continued, winking at her friend. “She has her eyes on this tall, Quidditch player that has every other girl enthralled as well. I’m not sure the guy knows her true feelings towards him, though, but I’d be careful if I were you.”</p><p>Remus smiled at her as he watched his two friends: James was persistently trying to find out who that “other man” was, and Lily was doing her best not to kill Marlene in the process. James was too daft to realise who Marlene was talking about, and Lily was too stubborn to ever tell him the truth.</p><p>The couple could’ve continued their banter if they hadn’t been interrupted by someone clearing their throat just behind Remus’s back. Lily’s eyes opened wide and he could see she was trying to tell him something, but he didn’t realise soon enough that what she meant was that he shouldn’t turn around.</p><p>“’Ello, mind if I join you?”</p><p>The first thing Remus saw when he turned around was a black, leather belt on top of a pair of grey, light-blue-striped trousers. He raised his eyes and he felt the world slow down as different bits of the person behind him came into view: the tip of a tie the same shade as the stripes on the trousers, the wrinkles of a shirt a lighter shade, three undone buttons that exposed a long, slender neck that had a few red markings that were clearly not meant to be covered, a bare jaw that could’ve fooled him if he had been told it was a Greek statue’s and finally, a pair or piercing, grey eyes that were fixed on his own.</p><p>“Sure, mate!” James replied, in good spirit, as he slid on the bench so that he was strategically sitting next to Lily while making room next to him.</p><p>Lily, for once, didn’t seem to mind. Her eyes were fixed on Remus, who had looked away as soon as he realised who the person standing behind him was, and who was too concentrated on his half-empty plate.</p><p>“Cheers,” the long-haired boy replied, in perfect English, although the “R” sound gave him away. It was smooth, as if he had decided half-way through the word he didn’t want to say it and it had died down in his throat. It sent a jolt of recognition down Remus’s whole body.</p><p>“I’m James, James Potter,” ever-so-perfect James replied, with a warm smile. “These are Mary, Marlene, Peter, Lily and Remus.”</p><p>“I’m Sirius Black,” he replied, and although it was just his name, he made it sound like a regal title.</p><p>Everyone at the table reacted at the same time: Lily’s eye turned from soft green to dangerous, but she still shrunk almost imperceptibly in her seat. James puffed his chest and leant on the table, pressing his elbows and arms against the wood, one of which he placed on the space right in front of Lily, as if creating a shield. Mary and Marlene started glowering at him at the mention of his last name and Peter was holding tightly to his wand under the table. Remus was watching the scene unfold, his fists clenched and his jaw set, thinking to himself what a poor choice he had made the night of the Quidditch World Cup (“<em>Even if you weren’t really aware you were choosing, you drunk bastard,” </em>he reminded himself).</p><p>The boy, Sirius, noticed the visceral reaction from the group of friends and raised his eyebrows in surprise:</p><p>“Oi, hold your horses,” he replied, as he leant back, putting distance between him and the Gryffindors. “I probably despise my family more than any of you could ever do.”</p><p>The friends looked at each other, still suspicious, but in a slightly more relaxed manner. All of them had heard of the Black family, the old, royal French clan that was always suspiciously close to the Dark Arts and despised anyone and everyone that wasn’t “pure like them”. Lily’s heritage would, of course, mean the Black boy couldn’t be trusted. At least, not until he had proven he meant what he said.</p><p>“We’ve all heard of the Blacks,” Marlene spoke, quietly, voicing what everyone else was thinking. “Neither of us share <em>your </em>values.”</p><p>She emphasised the pronoun and with that, she drew a line that separated the friends from the outsider: <em>we </em>and <em>you, ours </em>and <em>yours, the things we believe in </em>and <em>the hate we will never advocate for. </em>The boy felt the weight behind her words and although he was still smirking in a friendly manner, his eyes had darkened slightly as he raised his hands in surrender.</p><p>“If you’ve heard of the Blacks,” he repeated back to them, “then you’ve probably heard about their good-for-nothing son who keeps tarnishing their good name.”</p><p>“My father’s told me something about it,” James said, relaxing his shoulders.</p><p>“I see my reputation precedes me,” the boy said, his smirk growing wider. “<em>C’est moi</em> [That’s me]. The white sheep in the Black family.”</p><p>At that, James smiled shyly at him and the rest did the same, slowly giving in to the boy’s charms. Remus seemed to be the only one who hadn’t warmed up to the boy. Maybe he didn’t think less of Muggleborns like his family did; he didn’t think that meant he would be so open to werewolves, too.</p><p>“Where are your friends?” Peter bluntly asked, half wishing he would have any female friends he could introduce himself to, half trying to make him understand that he had just interrupted the precious balance they had managed to build in their friend group.</p><p>“Here and there,” the boy replied, while helping himself to a <em>croissant. </em>Remus thought that seemed pretentious and predictable. “I just wanted to introduce myself to the prettiest ladies in the room.”</p><p>He winked at Remus’s three friends and he felt his rage rising. They were <em>his </em>friends and that remark bothered him. But then, the boy looked for a fraction of a second in his direction, still smiling charmingly, and Remus had to order his heart to stop beating so fast.</p><p>Rage. Rage could make his heart beat as if he had just run two kilometres in less than five minutes.</p><p>“Hey, Black,” James said, with mockery on his voice. “I hope you’re not <em>seriously </em>trying to pretend to be my friend so you can fawn over my beautiful lady?”</p><p>Peter and Remus both let out a loud chuckle at their friend’s wordplay. Only Lily knew about their <em>Animagi </em>condition, so the joke wasn’t funny for the other three people, who were staring at them as if they were mad.</p><p>“Oh, but I am Sirius,” he replied, grinning, and the group exploded in laughter again. Remus didn’t join in.</p><p>“I’m not your lady, Potter, how many times do we have to go through this?” Lily quickly added; she didn’t look too upset about it, though, so she had to lower her head so no one would see her blush. Remus, of course, did see. He would make sure to piss her off later.</p><p>“We all know it’s a matter of time,” Mary interrupted, leaning closer to the French boy, her arms strategically placed on the edge of the table so her chest was resting on top of them. Remus had seen her work her charms more times than he could remember, and he knew it worked every single one. “I, on the other hand, I’m extremely single.”</p><p>The boy smiled again, this time while he also leant forward so his unbuttoned half of the shirt gave view to his pale chest. He looked down at Mary’s tight shirt and Remus’s heart jumped; why was this boy <em>so</em> shameless? It wasn’t right. It made him uneasy.</p><p>The French boy looked at Marlene, who was trying to contain her laughter at the sight of her friend’s blatant flirting techniques: “Is that true for you, too?”</p><p>“Oh, no,” Marlene quickly said, entwining her hand with Remus’s. “Definitely not single.”</p><p>The boy’s eyes finally looked away and landed on Remus. He looked down at their intertwined fingers and smiled, mischievously: “You’re one lucky lad.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Remus managed to say. “I am.”</p><p>Nobody else seemed to find that exchange as odd as Remus did; the boy leant back and returned to his food, while he chatted with the others and they asked him questions about him, his life, Beauxbatons and France.</p><p>“I thought I heard somewhere that you were a couple of years younger than us,” Lily said, as he told them he was a seventh-year, too.</p><p>“That must be my <em>darling </em>brother you heard about,” he replied, as he motioned with his head towards the Slytherin table.</p><p>They all looked at the table where the green-robed students sat and saw a boy with the same black hair as their companion’s, except his was a little shorter, hanging just above his ears. He noticed he was being stared at and turned around; when he saw it was his brother who was watching, he simply shrugged and turned his back to them, as if he wasn’t worth his time.</p><p>“That’s Regulus,” he said, to catch the Gryffindors’ attention. “My perfect little brother.”</p><p>He spoke his name with such bitterness that even Peter, who wasn’t one to normally read people correctly, knew it was a sore subject. They quickly changed the topic and, only a few minutes later, they had to get up and get going to their first class.</p><p>As they walked out of the Great Hall, the boy told them he was assigned a timetable, too. They all gathered around his hand to read it and Remus saw he was almost in every class with him: he repressed the need to sigh loudly.</p><p>He was about to follow his friends when he realised that he had forgotten one of his books in the Great Hall. Cursing, he told his friends he would meet them later and ran as fast as he could, so he wouldn’t miss the beginning of the class. But before he could turn the corner, he heard a set of footsteps behind him and then, someone calling his name. He heard him and he couldn’t avoid it any more.</p><p>He slowed down and turned around, watching as the French boy went up to him.</p><p>“Remus,” the boy repeated, and his name on his tongue sounded like it belonged in a poem. He still struggled to pronounce the first letter of his name and the rest of it came out in a sigh.</p><p>“Yeah, I heard you the first time,” he said, anxious to get out of that situation. The corridor had emptied quickly and it was just the two of them. “What?”</p><p>Against all odds, the boy smiled. He smiled with his whole face, all his teeth showing, like he was posing for a picture.</p><p>“We finally meet under the sun,” he simply stated.</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“I recognised you, yesterday night,” he insisted. “You look the same.”</p><p>Remus decided he wouldn’t give in. Maybe if he was convincing enough, the boy would stop trying to make him remember.</p><p>“We’ve never met,” he said, steadying his voice. “You must have me confused for someone else.”</p><p>The boy’s smile faltered briefly, but in a second it was back, brighter than ever. More mischievous than ever.</p><p>“You left a lasting impression. I’m sure you remember.”</p><p>“I don’t. I need to grab my book, so if you’ll excuse me…”</p><p>He turned around, again, and was prepared to leave, but he felt a hand on his wrist.</p><p>His reaction was immediate: the touch felt electrical, but it was quickly over. Remus turned around in an instant and, with a strong hand, grabbed the boy by the throat and pinned him against the wall. The boy’s eyes were open in surprise as he left his limp arm fall next to his body; he had to look up from where he was standing to be able to look Remus in the eyes.</p><p>“Do not fucking touch me,” Remus said, suddenly aware of the feeling of the boy’s skin under his fingers. Again.</p><p>“<em>Désolé</em> [Sorry],” he replied, his voice strangled behind Remus’s firm grip. “Maybe I overstepped.”</p><p>“You bloody did,” Remus replied. “You’re talking nonsense.”</p><p>The boy smiled. “We both know I’m not. Your touch feels the same as it did back at the Quidditch match. Your roughness does, too.”</p><p>Remus’s heart was beating fast and he didn’t know whether it was the adrenaline of having someone pinned against a wall or the fact that it was <em>him, </em>under his fingers, speaking of the one thing he didn’t want to hear.</p><p>“Listen to me, Black,” he said, acknowledging his name for the first time. “Whatever you think happened that night, you’re wrong. We were drunk. You will keep your mouth shut or I’ll make sure you regret it.”</p><p>Remus felt the animal inside him fighting to come out, fighting to take over, but he kept in control. He was beginning to realise he had maybe gone too far. He loosened his grip on his neck, but still kept him with his back to the wall. He didn’t recognise himself and it scared him.</p><p>He didn’t know why or how the boy was still smiling, despite the situation. “It’s not my secret to tell.”</p><p>“That’s the first coherent thing you’ve said all morning,” Remus replied.</p><p>“I say a lot of rational things, once you get to know me,” the boy joked, still not struggling against Remus’s grip.</p><p>“Let’s get one thing clear,” he replied, as he finally let go. He was painfully aware of the emptiness under his hand the moment his skin was no longer touching his. “You’re not my friend. You never will be. I don’t trust you and your babbling mouth. You’ll stay away from me. Understood?”</p><p>“Perfectly,” Sirius replied, as he straightened the collar of his shirt, his piercing eyes still fixed on Remus’s.</p><p>Without another word, Remus turned around and with two long strides, he had disappeared around the corner.</p><p>Sirius Black stayed in his place, his eyes fixed on the place he had last seen the sandy-haired boy. He placed his hand on his neck, feeling the heat from the place Remus had been grabbing only seconds ago.</p><p>He smiled. That boy seemed like trouble.</p><p>And Sirius Black loved a challenge.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Are You Lost?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Remus Lupin thought he didn’t know much about anything, yet two things were universal truths to him: one, he hated the moon. And two, he hated Sirius Black even more.</p><p>The worst part about hating Sirius Black was the fact that everyone else around him seemed to be enthralled by his mere presence; the incident from the morning they first met had been long forgotten and everyone seemed to have decided to overlook the fact that he was a Black. Everyone but Remus, of course, who seized any opportunity to try to get his friends to stop gawking over the French boy.</p><p>“I don’t know what your problem with him is,” said James one night, in their dormitory, after Remus repeated to them they couldn’t trust the boy for what seemed like the fiftieth time. “He’s brilliant.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Peter added. “He helped me train the other night. James was stuck with Head Boy duties and Sirius offered to play Quidditch with me.”</p><p>“You know what my bloody problem is,” the scarred boy repeated. “I don’t think we can trust him. I don’t believe his whole <em>rebellious </em>act. How much can you rebel against your family when you’re still walking like you’re wearing a bloody golden crown on your head?”</p><p>“I think I know what really bothers you,” James said, the smile suddenly vanishing from his face.</p><p>“Oh, really? Please, enlighten me,” Remus replied, sarcastically, although his heart started beating frantically in his chest. He couldn’t really know, could he?</p><p>An intrusive thought started forming at the back of his mind: what if Lily had told him? She was the only one he had trusted with his secret. Maybe she let it slip because she thought the boys knew; maybe James was about to tell him he knew everything and he was disgusted he went behind their backs while him and Peter were both drunk and Remus was supposed to fetch water for them. Maybe they would cast him aside. Could they throw him out from his own dormitory, in which he had spent the past six years? Would he have to return home, not being able to finish his seventh year? Maybe Dumbledore could make a special arrangement; maybe Hagrid would let him stay as his assistant.</p><p>“You’re jealous because he tried flirting with Marlene, the morning he introduced himself,” James finally said, making Remus’s head jerk up and away from the dark hole he was digging for himself.</p><p>“What?” is all he could say, when the response that came out from his friend’s lips was so different to the one he had in mind.</p><p>“I wouldn’t worry too much,” James continued, unaware of what was going on in the poor boy’s head. “Marlene’s never been with anyone and she chose to be with you. She must think you’re something special.”</p><p>“I still don’t know how you managed to pull <em>her </em>off,” Peter said, a twinge of jealousy poorly hidden in his voice.</p><p>“You know, maybe because some of us actually try to be decent human beings that think with their heads instead of their cocks,” Remus replied, throwing a pillow at him so hard that Peter fell off his bed with a loud thump.</p><p>“Tosser,” he shouted, as James let out a loud cackle. “I <em>can </em>be a decent human being. I just don’t happen to exercise it very often.”</p><p>“Yeah, the four girls that showed up at our door at the end of sixth year are living proof of that statement,” Remus interrupted. “I don’t think I’d ever seen an angrier group. That pig snout you got was well deserved.”</p><p>“Sod off,” Peter replied, sitting back down on his bed. “Not all of us are afraid of females, y’know.”</p><p>“Who the fuck said I was afraid of females? I have a girlfriend.”</p><p>“And it amazes me every single day.”</p><p>Remus was about to reply but James interrupted them: “Enough. I’m changed. Let’s go down to the Great Hall.”</p><p>Reluctantly, Remus slid his sweater over his head and tied his shoelaces. James and Peter were both wearing their Quidditch uniforms, but James had been delayed by his own reflection in the mirror: he gasped when he saw his morning hair, not nearly ruffled enough as it usually was. He spent the following ten minutes trying to make it look as if he had just got off his broom. Remus tried to point out that he needn’t do that, because he was going to be on a broom in a few minutes, but he insisted he needed to fix his hair. Maybe he believed Lily would finally accept his invitation to watch him play Quidditch or go for butterbeer at Hogsmeade. A man could dream.</p><p>As they were about to leave the common room, Marlene joined them with an annoyed look on her face. Remus raised his eyebrows, inquiringly, and she just answered by pointing her face to the stairs from which she had just descended. At the bottom of them was a sixth year Gryffindor who looked as if someone had just died; he was holding a single rose in his hand.</p><p>Remus rolled his eyes at which he assumed was a poor attempt at catching her attention. Marlene simply answered by intertwining her fingers with his, helping him assert dominance. One furious look in the direction of the boy was enough to send him away; he was sure Marlene wouldn’t be bothered again.</p><p>The four of them entered the Great Hall and walked towards their usual seats, which were already occupied by Lily, Mary and, to Remus’s annoyance, a glowing Sirius Black that was nonchalantly swirling his wand between his long fingers while listening intently to whatever Lily was telling him.</p><p>They sat down and Remus was careful to sit as far away from him as possible, with Marlene by his side. Their hands were no longer entwined, but Remus made sure to slide his arm around her shoulders and keep it there. Sirius acknowledged them at that same time and he felt the urgent need to lower his arm, but he remained in position, smiling politely at him.</p><p>“Evening, lovebirds,” Mary greeted them, as she grabbed a tray full of mashed potatoes.</p><p>“Evening,” Remus simply replied, keeping his eyes fixed somewhere far away from Sirius’s.</p><p>“Are you boys headed to Quidditch practice?” Sirius asked. Remus had to repress a snide remark that would’ve gone along the lines of “<em>Wow, Sirius Black, who would’ve thought they were about to play Quidditch? Did the uniforms they’re wearing give them away?”</em></p><p>“And girl,” Marlene added, raising a single eyebrow.</p><p>“My apologies,” he replied, winking back at her.</p><p>“Yes, we are,” James promptly replied, while helping himself to the nearest tray of spaghetti. “Evans, you’re invited too, of course, to watch me play. I’ll make sure to put on the best show just for you.”</p><p>James had been inviting Lily to watch him practise ever since second year, when he wasn’t even on the Gryffindor team. Lily, of course, refused every single time, except at matches, which she attended to support Marlene. James’s efforts never wavered although he knew the answer before asking the question.</p><p>But to everyone’s surprise, Lily’s answer was different: “Yeah, okay.”</p><p>Before anyone could say anything, James’s face went red as he choked on the food he had been about to swallow. Peter, who was sitting right next to him, had to pat him on the back as half the table was watching him with amusement, and the other half, Remus included, was staring at Lily wide-eyed as the girl dropped her gaze, embarrassed to look at her friends.</p><p>“You—You said yes?” James asked, perplexed, with glossy eyes as he was trying to even his breathing. “Just to confirm I heard you correctly, are you saying <em>you’re coming to see me play?</em>”</p><p>“Well, yes,” she replied, hesitantly. “Mar is practising too, isn’t she?”</p><p>Remus could tell she decided to add that last bit after she realised she had admitted in front of everyone that she wanted to see James play, but it didn’t work on her favour; after he heard “yes”, James completely shut down and didn’t even stop when Lily repeated that she wanted to see Marlene. He had already got up, gulping down the last of his food, told Peter he’d meet him on the field and trotted away, presumably wanting to be the first on the field so when Lily saw him again, his hair would already be ruffled and his Quidditch undershirt would already be sticking to his damp body. Remus knew his friend well, and he also knew no girl, no matter how old, ever resisted the sight of his fit body under his tight shirt.</p><p>He knew Lily would swoon, because she had been for the past months, whenever she caught sight of him, and that she would never admit it. He hated that James was doing everything to catch her attention and, most of all, he hated that <em>he </em>couldn’t look away either.</p><p>Marlene cleared her throat and all eyes were on her.</p><p>“So,” she began, licking the tips of her fingers clean. Peter was watching her as if she was a goddess he worshipped. “To watch me play, eh?”</p><p>“Yes, of course,” Lily quickly said, her cheeks almost the same shade as her hair. “I want to support you like the good friend I am.”</p><p>“And this has nothing to do with your desire to watch James, on a broom, who will probably take off his shirt claiming he’s hot when we all know he’ll be freezing his arse off?” Mary asked, grinning.</p><p>“Oh, come on now, don’t be ridiculous,” Lily replied, composing herself and trying to sound casual. “Why would I want to do that?”</p><p>Nobody answered but everyone could see her poorly concealed smile as she looked down and pretended to tie her shoelaces.</p><p>Lily’s moment was interrupted by a set of footsteps, followed by a pair of arms that hugged Sirius from behind.</p><p>“<em>¡Mi princesito! </em>[My little prince!]”</p><p>Remus was sitting so close to Marlene that he felt her tensing up when she heard the girl’s voice. Remus, not knowing what could cause his friend to react that way, looked up.</p><p>Behind Sirius stood the girl that had been on the front row of the Castelobruxo formation the night they arrived. He seemed to recall that first night she had been wearing her silky, brown hair on a braid, but now it flowed behind her back, long and luscious. Two big, ornate earrings were dangling from her ears and there wasn’t a single portion of her skin that wasn’t gleaming from the sun that crept through the high windows; her eyes were a similar colour, two brown irises that seemed to absorb all the light. Remus thought she was the nicest-looking girl he’d ever seen.</p><p>“Dorcas! I was wondering where you were,” Sirius said, making room for her to sit next to him. “I think you’ve met everyone but Remus. Remus, this is my best friend, Dorcas Meadowes.”</p><p>“You’re from Castelobruxo, aren’t you?” he asked, after nodding in response to her bright smile.</p><p>“I am,” she replied, and he was surprised to hear a perfect English accent.</p><p>“Then how come you sound perfectly British?” Lily asked, curiously. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”</p><p>“I don’t mind at all!” she replied with such easiness that Remus wondered whether she had stolen every ray of sunshine and hid them in her smile. “My parents work for the department of International Magical Cooperation at the Ministry. I was born in England but have lived in India, France, Argentina and Brazil.”</p><p>The boy thought he believed her: she seemed to have adopted traits from every country she had inhabited. There was an aura of knowledge around her that made him feel small. And it also explained how he knew Sirius.</p><p>Not that he had been wondering. He didn’t care enough to wonder.</p><p> “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked, and everyone nodded in approval.</p><p>Remus looked to his side, to an uncharacteristically silent Marlene. Usually, she would be the first to ask questions, to welcome her in their group or just to talk about anything if she liked the person enough; Remus didn’t see why she wouldn’t, so he found it bizarre that she still hadn’t said a word. He nudged her ribs trying to get her attention, but her eyes were fixed on the girl, Dorcas, with a strange expression Remus had never seen in her. It took him another gentle blow to her side for her to look at him, and when she did, she quickly realised she was acting oddly and her face changed into an easy smile. Yet, she still avoided talking to her.</p><p>“We should get going,” she finally said, although when she realised she had caught unwanted attention, she looked away. “I need to change into my Quidditch robes.”</p><p>“You can come too, Dorcas,” Sirius said, kissing her cheek. “It’s time we see if these Brits are all bluff and no action.”</p><p>They all got up from their seats, Marlene included, although only chatting with Mary and not letting her eyes wonder away from her friend, and Remus decided to silently slip away. He liked watching his friends play (especially now that Lily would be next to him and they would be able to chat if any of them got a little bored at the things James put his team through), but he didn’t want to spend that time next to Sirius. He thought he’d have plenty of opportunities to cheer on his friends, since they practised almost every day, so he needn’t worry. He wanted to write the Potions essay that was due the following week, anyway. And the prospect of an afternoon alone, with no noise to distract him and, most importantly, no Sirius Black to infuriate him, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.</p><p>He should have known it was too good to be true. He hadn’t even reached the stairs when he heard a pair of footsteps trailing after him. He thought maybe Lily had changed her mind; to his surprise, it wasn’t her who had begun following him.</p><p>“Don’t you have anything better to do than follow me around?” Remus half asked, half sighed as Sirius’s figure came into view.</p><p>“Probably,” he replied with a smirk.</p><p>“Shouldn’t you be showing your friend around?”</p><p>“I think she can manage today.”</p><p>“What do you want?” Remus replied, as calmly as he could, not wanting to explode again and end up having him pinned against the wall once more.</p><p>“Why should I want anything? That’s capitalism speaking, it has rotten all our brains and made us believe everyone is after a profit and no one can have true intentions anymore.”</p><p>“Stop taking the piss out of me.”</p><p>“Fine,” he sighed, dramatically. Remus rolled his eyes. “I need to know what’s the tallest tower in this castle.”</p><p>“And you had to run back and ask <em>me?</em> When Peter, Lily, Marlene and Mary have also been studying here for the past seven years?” he asked, incredulously.</p><p>“Well, you’re the tallest of the bunch. It was easier to find you in the crowd; you’re always standing out.”</p><p>Remus thought the boy didn’t make sense, but he was too tired to contradict him: “Fine. But keep up, I have an essay due this week that I want to finish.”</p><p>He started marching towards the stairs that would lead them to the Astronomy Tower; one of his strides equalled two of Sirius’s, but if the boy was struggling to keep up, he didn’t show. He was still effortlessly walking, not a single hair out of place, not a single breath too deep that showed he needed him to slow down. He just adapted to his steps, as if he could do anything if he put his mind to it. It irritated Remus to an unspeakable extent.</p><p>“So,” Sirius asked, as he trotted along, interrupting the silence. “What does Remus Lupin do when everyone else is busy elsewhere?”</p><p>“Apparently, he has been engaging in a new activity recently,” Remus replied, quickening his pace, trying to get rid of the persistent boy. “He strives to get Sirius Black to leave him the fuck alone.”</p><p>“And he fails, miserably; or so I’ve been told.”</p><p>Remus didn’t answer. From the corner of his eye, he watched as his companion marvelled at every single thing they encountered on their way towards the tower: the hollow armours that moved at odd times, the curious men and women in the portraits that whispered to each other, the few ghosts they encountered and he even jumped when they heard an explosion on the other side of the corridor, followed by Filch’s quick steps. It was as if he was seeing everything for the first time, as if every little thing, from the tiniest speck of dust to the way the sun reflected off the various surfaces, was worth looking at. Remus wondered how could he be so marvelled at everything and anything; he thought he had lost that capacity long ago.</p><p>Sirius suddenly quickened his pace so that he was walking in front of Remus, facing him, not looking where he was going. Remus arched an eyebrow but deliberately decided to ignore him, looking at his feet.</p><p>“What’s that scar near your lips?”</p><p>“Are you always this fucking blunt?”</p><p>“Are you always this fucking dodgy?”</p><p>Remus wanted to punch his marble-like face. “My cat,” he replied. “When we first got him he had trouble understanding boundaries. Wouldn’t be a field too unfamiliar for you, I s’ppose.”</p><p>Remus had intended to piss him off, but all his comment did was help broaden his smile. He was unbearable.</p><p>“It must’ve been one large cat,” he replied, and when Remus noticed he was looking straight at his lips, he lowered his head quickly, trying his best not to look back up.</p><p>Sirius was still walking backwards when he suddenly hit a hard surface. He stumbled towards Remus, whose first instinct was to grab him by the collar of his shirt, to help him stay on his feet. He accidentally unbuttoned the upper part of his shirt.</p><p>“Watch where you’re bloody going,” he heard a familiar voice from behind, and he squinted his eyes, wondering why did every bad thing happen to him just when all he wanted to do was sit down and study.</p><p>Sirius turned, slowly, and was faced with a boy his size, whose black, greasy hair hung over his shoulders and whose crooked nose looked red from the cold. As soon as they were face to face, Severus Snape’s face relaxed as he saw who he was talking to.</p><p>“Sirius Black,” he muttered, and Remus thought he heard a hint of adoration. “I’ve heard about you.”</p><p>“That’s great, but I have no clue who <em>you </em>are,” he replied in a calm manner and for the first time, the tall boy wanted to smile sympathetically at him.</p><p>“Severus Snape,” he replied, contorting his face in what Remus thought was supposed to be a smile.</p><p>Sirius was about to answer, but Snape’s eyes fell on the other boy. He hadn’t acknowledged him yet, but when he did, he grimaced.</p><p>“I would advise you to be careful who you befriend,” he began, his eyes not leaving Remus’s. “You don’t want to be found in the wrong company. Especially not in <em>his</em>.”</p><p>The French boy looked between the two and a shadow of understanding crossed his features.</p><p>“You’re completely right, Snake, I shouldn’t.”</p><p>“Snape,” the Slytherin corrected him.</p><p>“Right, sorry, Snivellus. I better get going, then, before they find me in the wrong company,” he winked at him and walked past the boy, who was stuck to his place in shock. “Are you coming, Lupin?”</p><p>Remus walked past Snape, who looked livid, holding his laughter: “Go terrorise someone your size, Snivellus.”</p><p>And with that, they both turned the corner, leaving Snape clenching his fists and red with rage.</p><p>As soon as they were out of sight, Remus couldn’t contain himself any longer and let out a short laugh.</p><p>“That was a good one, Black,” he admitted, against his will.</p><p>“I live to indulge,” he replied as he winked at him.</p><p>The rest of the way was silent, but it was a comfortable one. Remus still didn’t want anything to do with the boy, but he had to admit he admired his quick-wittedness. He couldn’t wait to tell his friends of Snape’s new pet name as soon as they got back to the Gryffindor common room.</p><p>When they finally reached the last set of stairs, Remus stopped and motioned him to go up. “That’s it, you just have to go through that door.”</p><p>“Oh, right,” Sirius replied, after he shot a confused glance at him, as if he had forgotten what he was doing there. “Well then, thank you.”</p><p>“Why did you want to come here, anyway?”</p><p>Sirius looked to both sides and, when he was sure they were alone, he took a silver box of cigarettes with his initials carved on it from the inside pocket of his jacket. Remus involuntarily took a step back at the smell of the material the box was made out of.</p><p>“Oh, you don’t smoke?” Sirius asked, withdrawing his hand and completely misreading Remus’s reaction.</p><p>The sandy-haired boy had to admit he would kill for a cigarette, especially right after he had eaten, but the thought of being alone with Sirius in such an unpopulated place took him back to that night that he was still fighting so hard to forget. He didn’t trust him.</p><p>“I do,” he replied, somehow not wanting to lie to the boy. “I just have things to do, that’s all.”</p><p>He thought the French boy looked disappointed. “Well then, this fag will be waiting for you if you ever want it. I guess I’ll see you around.”</p><p>“I sincerely hope I won’t,” he replied, trying to cast away the memory that was once again threatening to take over his thoughts.</p><p>Sirius smiled. “You’ll warm up to me eventually. And besides, what will I do when I get lost again?”</p><p>“Maybe I’ll have to draw you a fucking map so you stop nagging me,” Remus replied, already turning around, although he didn’t look nor sound serious at all.</p><p>“But what would the fun in that be?” he almost shouted, just before Remus disappeared from view.</p><p>The scarred boy walked back towards the Gryffindor tower with a light step. He sat down and tried to concentrate on his assignment, but he found it to be an impossible task: he was thinking of the French boy, who was smoking alone in the Astronomy Tower. He was irking at the thought of him coming up with the best nickname for Snape that none of them ever thought of.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Goblet of Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Because of a comment here, I discovered people were actually recommending this fic on a TikTok🥺 I think I managed to respond/like all the comments but just in case I missed any, thank you SO much. You don't know how much it means to me to see people actually enjoying what I write.<br/>Thank you, a million times💚</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>“Of course Sirius bloody Black plays the piano,</em>” Remus thought, as he sat, frowning, on his favourite armchair near the fire.</p><p>The past three days had been an absolute nightmare; ever since James had given Sirius the password to their common room, it seemed as if the boy had nothing better to do than spend all his afternoons roaming around the red-themed room, either flirtatiously talking to anyone who would give him their attention (which wasn’t something unusual, seeing as, everywhere he went, all eyes were on him) or writing on his journal, which he was extremely secretive about. Remus wondered if he even had friends in Beauxbatons.</p><p>His other favourite activity was sitting close to Remus, as if they were friends. They weren’t and they never would be: the boy didn’t seem to be taken aback by the Gryffindor’s glares and he kept sitting next to him, just to piss him off with his mere existence. He had tried talking to him, but Remus dismissed him every single time: that particular day, although it was raining, James, Peter and Marlene were at Quidditch practice, and since the boy didn’t fancy getting wet, he was stuck in the common room as most of the Gryffindor house, being ignored by the only other person he knew. Not only that, but everyone else seemed absorbed in their work: the room was unusually quiet. And Sirius Black couldn’t stand the silence too long.</p><p>Just when Remus was looking up the names of goblins and trying to understand what had happened between Emeric the Evil and Egbert the Egregious, the French boy conjured a delicate, black piano in the middle of the common room. Remus only looked up from his notes when he heard the loud thud of the elegant instrument against the wooden floor. Having seen first-hand his wand work, he knew the French boy could’ve easily placed it soundlessly and without making a fuss of it: but he <em>wanted </em>people to notice, he <em>wanted</em> to be the centre of attention and he <em>wanted</em> to make sure everyone knew he was there. It was as if the whole room had gone dark and there was a bright light that shone only over him.</p><p>Once he had made sure everyone was paying attention, he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and sat down on a stool, stroking the keys softly, as if he was greeting them. He was about to begin when he seemed to realise his hair was falling in front of his eyes, so he grabbed his wand and, with an intricate movement, managed to hold half of it in a bun that let some of his hair strands frame his face. He took a deep breath and began playing.</p><p>Remus was certainly annoyed that his peaceful afternoon was interrupted, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to his History of Magic assignment with the music that was coming from the piano: so he had to stop, lean back on his seat and wait for him to be done. He hoped that someone else would stop him, seeing as he wasn’t even a Gryffindor, but every single person in the room seemed to be holding their breath and watching intently as he pretended to be the only star that shone on the firmament. Remus couldn’t help but look at him, too; even if only to see what was it about him that had everyone so enthralled. He couldn’t see anything worth gawking at, other than the fact that his body seemed to be pulsing and reverberating with the sounds the piano emitted. Or the fact that his long, slender fingers seemed to be caressing the piano as if it was his lover. Maybe the fact that his eyes were closed, as if he was feeling the utmost pleasure by sitting and sliding his hands across the keys. Or that there wasn’t a single note that sounded out of place, a single pause that didn’t add to building the climax, a single moment when he felt his attention drift away from his hands. </p><p>Remus suddenly realised he was gripping the armchair and his face felt hot. He thought he ought to stop sitting so close to the fire or one day his skin would catch fire.</p><p>The music came to a stop and everyone seemed to start breathing again: it was as if his melody had cast a slowing charm and it was suddenly lifted. He got up from his seat, made the piano disappear with a movement of his wand and bowed to his audience. Some people clapped, some people laughed and some others were too busy staring at him to realise he had stopped playing.</p><p>With a triumphant grin, he made his way towards Remus, who, as soon as he realised the boy was walking with his eyes fixed on him, grabbed his notes and pretended to be absorbed in his subject of study. He just hoped it didn’t occur to Sirius to look, because he would then find he was holding them upside down.</p><p>“So?” the French boy asked, as soon as he sat down on the armchair next to him.</p><p>“So what?”</p><p>“Did you like it?”</p><p>“It was fine, I guess,” Remus replied, pretending to be annotating something on the margins of his essay.</p><p>“Love of my life,” Sirius suddenly said, and Remus almost jumped from his seat.</p><p>“What the fuck did you just say?” he asked, his heart beating fast. He looked around to make sure no one had heard and luckily, everyone seemed to have gone back to their tasks.</p><p>“Love of My Life,” Sirius repeated, calmly. “That was the song. By a Muggle band named Queen.”</p><p>“Oh,” Remus replied, settling back on his seat, trying his best not to blush when he realised how oddly he had reacted. “Why did you play it, anyway?”</p><p>“To impress you, of course,” Sirius replied with a grin.</p><p>“Sod off.”</p><p>Sirius laughed and Remus forced himself to look down, afraid he would be staring. His laugh sounded like another one of the melodies played on his piano.</p><p>“Don’t you want to know where I got the piano from?” asked Sirius.</p><p>“No, not really,” Remus lied.</p><p>Of course he wanted to know; he had been impressed at how it appeared out of nowhere. But he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being one more person among his personal crowd of fans.</p><p>“I transfigured this classical music book my parents gave me,” he replied anyway, his smile growing triumphant, as he showed a heavy-looking book that Remus assumed had been the piano. “And I want to place it somewhere special. Do you want to help me?”</p><p>“I’m busy,” Remus simply replied, going back to his own papers.</p><p>Just then, Peter and James entered the room, filthy and sweaty from their Quidditch practise. They were heading towards their dormitory when Sirius called their names and motioned them to join the pair.</p><p>“Hey, Black,” James greeted. “What are you up to?”</p><p>“I want to leave a present for Snape,” he replied, mischievously. Remus suspected it wouldn’t exactly be an enjoyable gift for the Slytherin. “I need someone to show me the way towards the Slytherin common room.”</p><p>“A gift?” Peter asked, suspiciously. “Why would you want to give <em>him </em>a present?”</p><p>“He was mad at me because I was singing on the corridor a few days ago. I just want to add a little music to his life.”</p><p>Remus suddenly understood what he was planning to do: “Really? What are you going to do, place a piano in his dormitory?”</p><p>“I’m not going to do just that, <em>mon chéri </em>[my dear],” he answered. “I’m going to make sure it never stops playing the song I was humming.”</p><p>Remus decided to ignore the way his heart jumped when he heard the boy speak his language. He definitely hated the French.</p><p>“A piano? Where are you going to get one?” James asked as he looked at him, incredulously. “And how are you going to get into the common room? We’ve been trying for the past six years.”</p><p>“I happened to learn that my dear brother has befriended some Slytherins. I’ll just tell them I want to return a book. Are you coming?”</p><p>James and Peter looked at each other, with identical bewildered expressions at the prospect of finally breaking into the Slytherin common room. There it was: the glimmer of mischief inside their eyes that Remus knew so well. It almost always made an appearance when one of them thought of a new and innovative way of wreaking havoc at Hogwarts.</p><p>“Definitely,” Peter replied.</p><p>“Let’s go,” James said, with a smile that threatened to take over his entire face. “Remus?”</p><p>“Busy,” he simply replied, as he went back to his notes.</p><p>The three boys left and Remus immediately regretted not having joined them. He didn’t want to be following Sirius around like his little pet, but he would’ve loved to take part in their prank.</p><p>As he went back to his notes, he realised Peter and James had both agreed to his plans without a second thought; they probably hadn’t even stopped to wonder if that would make them look suspicious, as he did.</p><p>Why was it that he was the only one who hesitated so much when he was around the French boy?</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>Remus sat down with Lily and Mary for dinner and carefully glanced around the room; he hadn’t heard from his friends or Sirius since they left to prank Snape and he was beginning to worry. What if they had been caught?</p><p>“Let it out, Lupin,” Lily said, as he watched his nervous eyes scan every face.</p><p>“What? It’s nothing,” he quickly said.</p><p>As much as Lily was his best friend, she was also a Head Girl. And one that took her job seriously, unlike James, who sometimes forgot his new responsibilities included behaving at all times. He knew that if he told her, she would go looking for them; that wouldn’t be good.</p><p>“Relax, lover boy, Marlene’s just taking a shower to get rid of the mud,” Mary interceded with a smirk.</p><p>“Oh, yeah, good to know.”</p><p>He heard a loud laugh and immediately recognised it. He despised himself for knowing it, even when it sounded like it was near the entrance, on the other side of the room, even when there were a thousand other voices weaving the familiar quilt of noise that covered them whole. He recognised it not because he had heard it thousands of times before, but because it was <em>so </em>unmistakeably his: loud but delicate, as if he knew the exact volume it should have for it to be considered gracious and not obnoxious. Of course, he did everything as if he had been taught how to excel at whatever task he had at hand: even if that task was one as seemingly casual as laughing.</p><p>He turned around and saw James and Peter following Sirius; the three of them were grinning like madmen.</p><p>“You should’ve heard Snivellus when he saw our little surprise,” Peter said as soon as he sat down. Remus had reluctantly told them the nickname Sirius had come up with and since then, it was the only name they used to refer to their Slytherin antagonist.</p><p>“You were there? He caught you?” Remus whispered, trying not to raise suspicion in Lily.</p><p>“He didn’t. We had some help from an old friend,” James replied and showed him something he was hiding under the table: his invisibility cloak, the one that had saved them so many times from being caught by their professors.</p><p>Peter was about to tell Remus how they managed to pull their prank off when someone cleared their throat behind Sirius. He turned around and Remus could see the shade of recognition in his eyes.</p><p>The boy looked just like Sirius. Same structured face, same black hair, same piercing grey eyes. But there was a crucial difference between the two: where Sirius was soft, he was rough. Around his eyes, the edge of his mouth and even the way he stood. Sirius had the type of elegant bearing that he couldn’t quite shake off even if he tried, as if it was already ingrained in the way he strutted, but the other boy seemed to uphold it as if he was expecting people to get on their knees and start kissing the floor he walked on. A shiver went through the Gryffindor’s body as the boy moved slightly and the light of the candles casted shadows upon his face: for a moment, it was as if he was looking at Sirius through a broken glass. Sharp and distorted, but beautiful nonetheless.</p><p>“Regulus, my dearest brother. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?”</p><p>If the boy, Regulus, noticed the sarcasm-filled question, he decided not to care: “I’ve just heard our friend Severus claim a piano has appeared in his dormitory and he can’t figure out how to silence it. You wouldn’t know anything about it, would you?”</p><p>“That’s preposterous!” the boy exclaimed, pretending to be horrified, and James and Pete sniggered in a hushed tone. “Snape is not my friend; how could you say such thing?”</p><p>Regulus seemed to acknowledge the rest of the people on the table at once. He studied them and as soon as his eyes fixed on James’s, the boy stopped laughing. Remus thought he’d never seen his friend act so strange, especially in front of someone he had just met. Sirius’s brother’s eyes then travelled on to Peter, where they stopped for a while, as if he was trying to remember if he had ever seen his face, and then on to Marlene, Lily and Mary.</p><p><em>“Nos parents ne seraient pas heureux s’ils savaient que tu avais </em>ces<em> amis </em>[Our parents wouldn’t be too happy if they knew <em>these </em>are your friends],” Regulus spoke in their language so the rest wouldn’t understand.</p><p>“<em>Mais ils seraient très heureux si tu avais la Marque des Ténèbres, non ? </em>[But they would be extremely happy if you got the Dark Mark, right?],” Sirius replied and even though none of his friends understood what they were talking about, the tone in their voices made it clear that they weren’t exactly asking each other how their days had been.</p><p>Regulus clenched his jaw. “<em>Mes décisions ne te regardent pas</em>. <em>Je veux prendre soin de toi, c’est tout </em>[My decisions don’t concern you. I only want to look after you].”</p><p>“<em>Tu veut prendre soin de moi ? Tout comme tu me laisse prendre soin de toi quand j’ai essayé de te dire que tu n'étais pas obligé d'être comme notre famille ? </em>[You want to look after me? Just like you let me look after you when I tried to tell you that you don’t have to be like our family?],” Sirius replied in rapid French, but when he realised he seemed upset and his friends were anxiously staring at him, he relaxed. “Not a clue, little brother. And go tell your Slytherin friends that maybe next time they should try having a dormitory where they can fit both Snivellus’s gigantic nose and their piano, if they’re so concerned.”</p><p>Regulus looked angry, but Remus thought it looked as if he was trying too hard to look the part: his eyes didn’t show the anger the rest of his face reflected. Without another word, he went back to join his friends at the Slytherin table.</p><p>“Are you okay? What were you two talking about?” Lily asked, cautiously, voicing what everyone else was thinking.</p><p>“Brothers,” he simply replied, leaning back.</p><p>If anyone else wanted to ask more questions, they were dissuaded by the appearance of Hogwarts’ headmaster. He waved his wand and an atrium appeared in front of the professors’ table.</p><p>“Why does he feel the need to always give a fucking speech when I’m famished?” Marlene asked, looking longingly at her empty plate.</p><p>“Don’t be dramatic, we ate your chocolates like an hour ago,” Mary answered, sticking out her tongue.</p><p>“You had chocolate? And didn’t invite <em>me</em>?” Remus asked, sliding his arm around Marlene’s shoulders.</p><p>“Sod off, you already ate half of them.”</p><p>The Headmaster finally stood with his face to his students and everyone in the room fell quiet. Remus didn’t know what he would talk about, but somehow the excitement rose in the room and hung above their heads from a single thread that could snap at any moment.</p><p>“My dear students,” he began, and Sirius huffed. “Before we dive into our delicious feast, it is my duty to inform that those who wish to partake in the Triwizard Tournament, will have twenty-four hours to sign in.”</p><p>Remus thought it was highly unlikely, but the room seemed to grow even quieter.</p><p>“For that purpose, we have devised a selection process that will help us choose the three champions; an impartial judge will make the final decision,” he continued.</p><p>With another wave of his wand, a stool similar to the one where the Sorting Hat rested appeared in front of him. On top of it rested an ancient wooden chest with incrusted jewels that seemed to be dancing as they reflected the flames from the candles around the room. It seemed as if every student drew a deep breath at the same time.</p><p>“I hereby present to you the Goblet of Fire.”</p><p>With three taps of his wand, Dumbledore opened the case to reveal a rather disappointing goblet. Unlike its luxurious container, the artefact was plain and dull. But what caught Remus’s attention were the flames that seemed to be burning mid-air, shining a bright shade of blue.</p><p>“Every aspiring champion must write their and their school’s name in clear handwriting on a piece of parchment and simply drop it into the flames. Tomorrow night, we will have a feast and the three champions will be announced.</p><p>“I must warn you: once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you write your name down,” he spoke, but few people listened: everyone was already whispering too excitedly to listen to Dumbledore’s warning.</p><p>Having realised he had lost the students’ attention, he motioned them to start eating. The room exploded in chatter as the trays were filled with food.</p><p> “Can’t wait to put my name in there,” James said, as he helped himself to his first serving.</p><p>“Yeah, me neither,” Peter added, looking hungrily at the goblet. “Just imagine if Hogwarts won the cup thanks to one of us.”</p><p>“I’m just glad I’m sensible enough to not put my life at risk. But you guys do it, we’ll be cheering from the stands,” Mary added.</p><p>“I’m putting my name in, too,” Marlene admitted. “Rem? What about you?”</p><p>“Oh, no thank you,” he replied. “I’ll be the smart friend who helps the gormless Gryffindor champion while safely hidden behind his books.”</p><p>In reality, he would’ve liked participating in the tournament; he ached for it, the recognition and the money. Merlin knows he could use the money. But he was afraid one of those tasks would end up being on a full-moon, and even if Dumbledore was willing to change the dates to accommodate him, the other professors could ask questions. He didn’t feel like being exposed as a werewolf in front of so many people.</p><p>“Sirius? What about you?” Lily asked, looking at the French boy who was awfully quiet.</p><p>“Can’t. My parents made sure of it,” he replied, sourly.</p><p>“What do you mean?” James asked.</p><p>“They convinced my teachers I was unfit to participate,” he casually answered, although Remus noticed he put the fork through his meat with exaggerated force.</p><p>“But no one can stop you from putting your name in the goblet, I doubt a professor will hex you if you get near it,” Peter suggested.</p><p>“How can you be ‘unfit to participate’? There are no restrictions, as far as I know,” Lily inquired.</p><p>“Yeah, I mean, except if you have a physical condition that keeps you from walking,” James added.</p><p>“Is there anything you’re hiding from us?” Peter joked.</p><p>“Yeah, do you have hooves instead of feet?” James followed along, as they both laughed.</p><p>“Maybe I do! Beware, I might start chewing hay when you least expect it,” Sirius replied, and they all laughed.</p><p>Remus didn’t. He thought his friends hadn’t realised, but Sirius’s smile didn’t look real: it was tense on the corners of his mouth and his eyes weren’t crinkling as they always did when he laughed; he noticed as much. His friends quickly changed the subject after Sirius’s interruption and the sandy-haired boy noticed he wasn’t participating in the conversation as much as he always did. His lips were still quirked up in a smile, but he was looking down at his food with his eyes fixed on a spot on his plate. He noticed how, as soon as Peter asked if he was hiding anything, he brushed his fingers against the back of his shoulders quickly, out of habit.</p><p>And he saw Sirius Black flinch. The boy who seemed so unapologetic, so cheeky and who didn’t care who was watching, because that was exactly what he wanted: all eyes on him, at all times.</p><p>And if there was something Remus understood perfectly, was the art of deception. For once, he chose to keep it to himself and joined his friends’ laughter as the night grew darker and his eagerness to find out what Sirius Black was so afraid of grew deeper.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Act Surprised</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>i'm late and I'M SORRY; things are kinda rough right now. i hope you enjoy this late chapter anyway :) <br/>thank you for reading&lt;3</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ever since their first year at Hogwarts, Remus, James and Peter had a running game they liked to call “<em>Dumbledorisms</em>”: it consisted of trying to come up with new mottos for their school, each more outrageous than the last, and the winner would be the one who proposed the saying that made them laugh the most (and that was a difficult enough task already, seeing as the original motto was “Never tickle a sleeping dragon”). Their all-time favourites included “Never chase Snape with a bottle of shampoo” (which, after Sirius had come up with his new nickname, had changed into “Never shampoo a greasy Snivellus”), courtesy of Peter, “Never give McGonagall catnip”, James’s doing, and Remus’s very own “Never mop the floor with Filch’s hair” (although “Never snog a group of friends, Pete” had been a huge success between James and Remus after a certain incident during their sixth year).</p><p>But that morning, Remus thought that, if he had to make a <em>Dumbledorism</em> for that exact moment, he would change Hogwarts’s motto just a little bit and turn it into “Never disturb a sleeping werewolf”. Especially on the morning of a full moon.</p><p>Remus had spent the night sleeping intermittently. He shivered and when he put his duvet over his shoulders, he started sweating. He tossed and turned, feeling his arms and legs start to ache and his gums start to prickle on the places where, a day later, long, sharp fangs would replace his perfectly human teeth. That was the part he had never shared with his friends, who knew everything else about him (<em>“Almost everything</em>,” Remus had to remind himself); every night prior to a full moon, his mind was split into two distinct thoughts that he couldn’t avoid: one, that every muscle in his body ached. And two, that they ached because he could feel the wolf wanting to take over and enjoy his only night of freedom of the month. He knew Peter and James had come to terms with his identity, but he didn’t think telling them that there was a part of him that longed for those seemingly dreadful nights would get him the same understanding reaction. To them, from the little information there was in books in which lycanthropes spoke of their own experiences and there wasn’t some expert talking over them, the full moon was Remus’s most dreaded night, the night where he lost total control of himself and was a slave to his own curse: to Remus, although he couldn’t fully accept it to himself, it was a night where he could stop fighting the wolf’s urge that he felt every day of his life, stop pretending he was just like everyone else and enjoy the disconnection from his consciousness knowing he wouldn’t be held accountable for running, climbing and howling.</p><p>The morning of the full moon found Remus restless, aching and annoyed: and Sirius Black didn’t have a better idea than to barge into their room with the break of dawn and nag them to wake up. And of course, since Remus’s bed was the closest to the door, he was the first victim.</p><p>He had just been able to fall back into a light snooze when, suddenly, he heard a set of footsteps and before he could open his eyes, he felt something heavy fall on top of him.</p><p>“Oi!” he shouted as he sat up and instinctively pushed the weight off his bed.</p><p>He heard a muffled thump against the carpet followed by a groan. He stretched to move the curtains from the nearest window aside and when his eyes got used to the sudden brightness, he saw Sirius Black sitting on the floor, scratching his head with a pained expression.</p><p>“What the fuck are you doing?” Remus asked, angrily, his heartrate increasing as he realised the boy was that “weight” he had felt.</p><p>“I thought you were James,” he simply replied, as if jumping into your friends’ beds was something as natural as breathing.</p><p>Remus had to clutch the sheets so his body could concentrate on rushing all the blood to his hands and not somewhere else. “Bollocks. You knew this was my bed, you’re just determined to piss me off.”</p><p>“You can’t be serious,” the boy replied, and Remus had to fight back the urge to tease him by saying “<em>No, </em>you <em>are”</em>; he realised as soon as he had spoken that their conversation could be turned against him quite easily. “Why would I want that?”</p><p>By that point, Peter and James were peeking through the curtains of their own beds, their hair tousled and their eyes barely open. Remus hated that his friends had been listening because he knew he wasn’t making any sense and he had just said the first thing that came to mind because he wanted to express how <em>angry </em>he was at the boy, who had jumped into <em>his</em> bed as if it was nothing.</p><p>“Maybe in your posh school you jump into your mates’ beds, but here, we don’t,” Remus replied as he got up from his bed and went straight towards the bathroom.</p><p>“Aren’t you the warmest ray of sunshine, Remus Lupin?” Sirius shouted mockingly.</p><p>“Sod off,” he shouted back.</p><p><em>“No son of the moon can be a ray of sunshine</em>,” he thought to himself, before banging the door behind him.</p><p>He pressed his back to the cold surface of the wall and slid until he was sitting, trying to calm down. He could clearly hear James telling Sirius that he was just feeling unwell and that he didn’t mean everything he said; what was worse, Remus thought, is that he actually hadn’t meant to say the things he did: the full moon’s eve, and the fact that Sirius somehow always managed to put him on edge, had resulted in that nonsensical fight that he regretted the minute he closed the door behind him.</p><p>And even worse was the prospect of apologising to Sirius Black. He could already picture his smug grin and how he would probably say something inappropriate as he always did. He knew he wouldn’t shut up about it and if there was one thing he did not need, was to endure his winning smile.</p><p>Remus got up and splashed his face with the cold water, trying to put his thoughts in order. He took a minute to close his eyes and count to ten while he gripped the sides of the basin and ordered that second voice inside his head, the one that was aching to come out and take over, to calm down. He didn’t want to spend the whole day scowling at anyone who approached him, so he did what he always did whenever he was close to a full moon: he grounded himself by thinking that, in just a few hours, he wouldn’t need to keep supressing that other side of him, the one that was in constant pursuit of an adrenaline rush, and he would be able to run until his legs ached and the strong emotions he was feeling were long forgotten.</p><p>He kept repeating that thought inside his mind like a mantra as he got into the shower for a quick wash, and kept it in mind as he emerged from the bathroom into the quiet dormitory, the wet strands of hair dripping onto the carpet, the towel tied around his waist and his muscles flexing as a reflex to the cold.</p><p>Remus suddenly stopped walking as he realised he wasn’t the only person in the room; he had decided to wait inside the bathroom until he couldn’t hear his friends’ voices anymore so that he would be able to put on his uniform without anyone bothering him (and especially, without James looking at him disapprovingly, silently judging him until he apologised to Sirius). But to his surprise, he caught Sirius with a hand on the doorknob, as if he had been just about to leave the room, his eyes wide open at the sight of the half-naked Gryffindor.</p><p>Two things happened at the same time, as if a clock had stopped ticking and it suddenly resumed: Remus looked down at his own body, as conscious as he had ever been, and noticed that the sun outlined the shape of all the scars etched on his torso and arms. Sirius, who had been staring mesmerizingly at Remus, suddenly realised he was witnessing something he was probably not meant to see, and quickly turned his back to the boy.</p><p>“<em>Merde </em>[Shit],” Remus heard him whisper as he realised he had been staring. “Sorry, I was just about to leave.”</p><p>Remus’s first instinct was to tell him to fuck off, but once again, he took a few deep breaths. “I’m about to change so keep the door closed. And look away.”</p><p>Sirius stayed in place, his hand still on the doorknob and his eyes fixed on the wall next to the exit, and Remus quickly changed into his clothes, trying not to think too much about the fact that Sirius was in the room too.</p><p>“Dittany,” he croaked.</p><p>“Hm?” Remus asked as he tied his shoelaces.</p><p>“Dittany,” Sirius repeated in a clearer tone. “For your scars, I mean. It’s a plant that eases the pain and helps with the healing.”</p><p>“Oh, right,” Remus replied, awkwardly. “Hadn’t thought of that. Cheers.”</p><p>“I hope your cat has been trained since then.”</p><p>“My cat?”</p><p>“Didn’t you say it was your cat that had left you that scar on your upper lip?”</p><p>“Ah, yes, my cat,” Remus replied quickly. “Yeah, he has. He’s better behaved now.”</p><p>Sirius went silent again and Remus hesitated before asking the question that had been bothering him: “How do you know about healing plants? Pretty sure I’d never heard of dittany before.”</p><p>Sirius turned around slowly, waiting to see if Remus would tell him he wasn’t fully dressed yet. He looked into his eyes and there it was again: not a single trace of humour inside his grey irises.</p><p>“Big fan of plants,” he simply replied.</p><p>Remus thought it sounded exactly like when he had said his cat had scarred him. The air was filled with the tension and the knowing that neither of them were telling the truth, but they were both afraid that if they pressed on, their own secrets would be exposed. Remus thought he’d probably be the least favoured, since he couldn’t think of a single thing that could be worse in the wizarding world than being a werewolf, but he didn’t want to push his luck.</p><p>And for the first time, he could look past the mask Sirius Black had been wearing ever since the moment he first laid eyes on him: he was a boy, just like him, who had his own secrets that he probably didn’t want to ever reveal. And as much as he felt the need to <em>know</em>, maybe even just to find out what could <em>possibly </em>be bothering someone who seemed so carefree all the time, he also recognised the face of someone who had carefully devised a <em>façade </em>that shielded his own dark thoughts from the rest of the world: it was the same face he was so used to seeing every time he looked in the mirror.</p><p>“Of course you like plants,” Remus finally answered, walking towards the door. “You’re probably trying to devise a way to make plants develop a liking for you as everyone else has.”</p><p>“Everyone but you, apparently,” he replied, the traces of darkness leaving his marble-like face and a luminous grin taking over his face.</p><p>Remus ignored his comment and walked past him, heading towards the Great Hall.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>As much as every Hogwarts professor tried their hardest to capture their students’ attention (some of them even offering to reward House points to whoever could answer their questions), it was clear that there was only one thing on the teenagers’ minds: get out of class as soon as possible so they could gather around the Goblet of Fire and get a peek at the possible champions. McGonagall wanted their undivided attention and when she didn’t receive it, even after threatening to take points from whoever wasn’t paying attention, she decided to give up and just send them all the work they should’ve done in class as homework; Flitwick, on the other hand, noticed he wouldn’t be able to teach anything after five minutes of trying to get everyone to shut up, so he dismissed them from class.</p><p>Remus, Peter and James found themselves sitting in a corner of the Great Hall and betting on who each school’s champion would be.</p><p>“Oh, look at that blond boy, over there,” Peter pointed at a Beauxbatons student. “I don’t think he could be the champion. He looks like he doesn’t know the difference between his right and his left hand.”</p><p>“Makes two of you,” Remus said, his eyes not leaving the book he had on his lap; he found that concentrating on one task at a time helped him ignore the pain of an imminent full moon. Peter crumpled a piece of parchment and hit his head with it.</p><p>“There’s Fenwick over there,” James pointed, unbothered by the usual bickering of his friends. “He just put his name into the goblet.”</p><p>“I reckon he could be picked. He’s the current duelling champion,” Remus replied, his attention back on his book.</p><p>“I already told you,” James replied, his eyes greedily reflecting the blue flames. “<em>I</em> am going to be the Hogwarts champion. I’m sure of it.”</p><p>“Could be me too, mate,” Peter replied, shouldering him.</p><p>“It won’t be if you two don’t put your names in the goblet,” Remus noted.</p><p>“I’m just waiting for the right moment,” James replied, smirking.</p><p>“Since you can only put your name in there today, I’d say the right moment is now,” Remus answered.</p><p>“Stop being an insufferable know-all.”</p><p>“Stop being an insufferable idiot.”</p><p>“Stop being insufferable, both of you,” Peter jumped in.</p><p>James was about to slap his arm when he heard Lily’s laugh approaching them. He immediately got up, ruffled his hair and pretended to be talking to his friends as the ginger’s voice became more and more clear.</p><p>“Right time has come,” he whispered to both his friends and took out a piece of parchment from his pocket.</p><p>He casually turned around as the group of girls was just a few metres away.</p><p>“Oi, Evans,” he said nonchalantly as he walked past her. “You look lovely today.”</p><p>He didn’t give her a chance to retort because he walked straight towards the goblet in the centre of the room. Everyone seemed to step aside as he made his way, even the students from Beauxbatons and Castelobruxo; even though they didn’t know him, there was something about James’s presence that earned him a kind of respectful, expectant silence as he walked as if he knew that was his moment and no one would dare interrupt his confident strut. Remus glanced sideways and noticed Lily was looking at him too, mesmerised: it seemed as if the “James Effect” had finally got to her as well.</p><p>He stood in front of the goblet as if facing a challenging opponent. He looked around until his eyes landed on Lily, who wasn’t fast enough to look away: Remus knew he wouldn’t be able to wipe that cocky grin off his face anytime soon. He winked at her and, while still looking into her green eyes, dropped the piece of parchment into the flames. Someone started applauding and then, the whole room erupted in cheers as the Gryffindor made his way back to the table, being clapped on the back and high-fiving people on his way to his friends.</p><p>“When I win, I’m using the money to take you out to dinner, love,” he told Lily as soon as he was close enough.</p><p>“Maybe you should use it to buy yourself some humility,” Lily replied, smiling charmingly at the boy.</p><p>“Why would I buy something I don’t need? I’d rather spend that money on you,” he winked as he sat down.</p><p>“Maybe you could buy yourself a giant banner with a life-sized Lily,” Mary suggested as she sat down next to Remus.</p><p>“Please, don’t give him any ideas,” the ginger replied, horrified.</p><p>“I won’t need to, once I win,” he spoke again, this time leaning to whisper in Lily’s ear, who turned slightly red on the cheeks when he leant back on his chair again. Remus couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard something along the lines of “you’ll be all over me by then”.</p><p>“If we’re getting giant banners, I want one with Filch’s lovely face in it,” said a voice from behind.</p><p>Sirius was standing close to the wall, his uniform already dishevelled, his tie hanging loosely over his rolled up shirt. He grinned as he sat on the table, setting his feet at each side of Remus, leaving the unsuspecting boy between his legs. The scarred boy’s heart started beating fast as he realised he couldn’t move because Marlene was sitting on his lap, having been pushed by Mary, and he couldn’t shift without looking too suspicious about it.</p><p>“Did you guys put your names in there yet?” Sirius asked as he settled behind Remus.</p><p>“James did,” Marlene replied, trying her best not to move as she was sitting on top of the tall Gryffindor. “Weren’t you going to do it too, Pete?”</p><p>“I just did!” he replied, indignantly.</p><p>“What? When?” Mary asked.</p><p>“Just now! Right after James did!”</p><p>“Really? I didn’t see you,” Marlene apologised.</p><p>Peter was about to answer, but Sirius spoke first: “I just hope whoever gets picked, it’s not someone from Slytherin. Can’t stand those lads.”</p><p>“Me neither,” Lily replied, glaring at the table where the green-robed students were gathered. “I also hope a girl gets selected.”</p><p>“We won’t have to wait long,” Sirius replied, mischievously. “Only a few hours to go.”</p><p>And he, to Remus’s annoyance, was right: the hours went by quicker than any of them expected and soon, it was dinner time and the Great Hall was filled with chatter and the sound of metal against plates. Since they were about to know the three champions, they had a huge feast that left them all drowsy and with little room for dessert. But as soon as Dumbledore got up from his seat, everyone seemed to come to life again.</p><p>“The time has finally come,” he said, mysteriously, and conjured the goblet with a swift movement of his wand. “Tonight we will know who our three champions are.”</p><p>A chorus of excited whispers rose in the room, but died down the minute the headmaster raised his hands to restore the silence. “Before that, I want to welcome a special guest who will help me explain the new rules, to ensure every student’s safety. Please give a warm welcome to our Minister for Magic, Harold Minchum.”</p><p>The doors to the left of the professors’ table opened and a short man walked towards Dumbledore. He looked no older than fifty, but the greying areas in his hair and the deep, dark circles under his eyes were deceiving. Remus thought he wouldn’t want to be in his position while an inevitable war was brewing around them.</p><p>“Thank you,” he simply replied, although few people clapped when he appeared. “I know you’re all eager, so I’ll make it short and sweet: we’ve decided to add some rules so we can ensure a fair game. We will have three champions, who will each have one surrogate who’ll serve as their ‘right hand’. This means they will be able to assist the champion whether it is by helping them prepare for their task or take their place in case of grave injury. Each champion will get to choose their second, with the exception of brothers or sisters, in which case, they will automatically be assigned as their partner.”</p><p>James, Peter, Remus and Sirius looked at each other, bewildered.</p><p>“I’ve never heard of such rule,” Lily whispered, worryingly. “What could they possibly mean by <em>‘grave injury’</em>? Do you think they added the rule because the tasks will be so dangerous that they doubt the champions will come out unscathed?”</p><p>“Evans, already worrying about me? I promise my beautiful face will remain so, if that’s your concern,” James whispered back.</p><p>“If anything, I’m worried there will be some creature that will hit you hard enough to bruise your ego,” Lily replied. “I pity Remus that will have to put up with you and your wounded self-esteem.”</p><p>Remus laughed silently, although his attention was back on the front of the room. The Minister had finished his speech and was now sitting behind the table, watching Dumbledore along with every other student in the room.</p><p>“Now that the rules are clear, we’ll let our judge decide,” he said as he stood in front of the goblet.</p><p>For a few minutes, nothing happened; Remus could even hear the faint sound of the wind swaying the leaves outside the castle. Then, as soon as he was beginning to wonder how much longer it would take to decide, the flames started glowing even brighter and he had to cover his eyes to avoid getting hurt by the sudden brightness that engulfed the room. Then, a bright red tongue of flame shot from within, sending sparks, and finally, a charred piece of parchment was caught by Dumbledore. He carefully unfolded it and adjusted his glasses.</p><p>“The champion from Castelobruxo,” he said, and Remus saw the group of students dressed in vivid colours sit up straighter. “Is Fernanda Alves.”</p><p>A dark-skinned girl rose from her seat as the other students chanted her name. Her brown curls bounced over her shoulders as she walked towards a beaming Dumbledore, who shook her hand as soon as she reached him. The Castelobruxo headmistress, Marielle, was standing next to him, with a wide grin that illuminated her pale face.</p><p>Once everyone had calmed down, Dumbledore spoke again: “Congratulations to you, our first champion. Who will you choose as your surrogate?”</p><p>The girl seemed to think for a moment as he assessed the table where her classmates were sitting. After a few seconds, he smiled and said his name: “I’m choosing Mario.”</p><p>A second round of applause followed the boy, who Remus recognised from the night they met the Castelobruxo students: the guy who was at the front row, his brown curls tickling the back of his neck and his vivid green eyes almost the same hue as his uniform. He recognised his dimples as he walked towards his friend, smiling, and they stood side by side, proudly, as they turned their attention once again to the goblet.</p><p>The same thing happened again, and this time, Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment almost as soon as it came out from the red flames. Remus hadn’t realised he was clutching his robes so tightly and had to relax his hand; his whole body was hurting already, since they were so close to the moment he’d turn, and he didn’t need to add any other injury to that list.</p><p>“Our champion from Beauxbatons,” he spoke again, and Remus thought he saw him frown before reading the name out loud, “is Regulus Black.”</p><p>Half the room cheered and the other half stayed silent, as the boy made his way towards the front of the room; his family’s reputation preceded him, but he didn’t seem to care that half the students were glaring at him. He shook hands with both Dumbledore and the Beauxbatons headmaster, a dashing, young-looking man whose youth glowed as he stood next to the elderly Hogwarts headmaster. The light-blue robed man whispered something in Dumbledore’s ear.</p><p>“Congratulations to our second champion. I’ve been informed Mr. Black has a brother, hence I would like to ask Sirius Black to join us up front.”</p><p>The group of friends looked at Sirius, who hadn’t seemed to realise he would have to be his brother’s second because of their blood-relation. He bore a shocked expression that Remus had never seen on him before, but he quickly composed himself and got up, walking towards the front of the room with a sense of confidence that wasn’t there seconds before. James and Peter were quick to clap and whistle and shortly after, most of the students followed, cheering for him louder than they had for his brother. Sirius stood next to Regulus (although Remus noted he wasn’t close enough for any part of their bodies to touch) and took a gracious bow, which was followed by laughter.</p><p>Dumbledore had to wait for everyone to settle down again and when they did, Remus could feel the tension: the remaining champion was Hogwarts’.</p><p>The tongue of flame seemed to be brighter than the previous two as it finally revealed the last champion. Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and cleared his throat before he announced the third and last student who’d compete in the Triwizard Tournament:</p><p>“Finally, our Hogwarts champion,” he chanted, a small grin taking over his face. “Congratulations, James Potter.”</p><p>One moment, the room was so silent that Remus could hear his friends’ anxious breathing; the next, everyone was on their feet, clapping and cheering. James’s eyes were wide open as he got up from his seat and a moment later, he was beaming at his friends. He hugged Remus and Peter before he made his way towards the professors’ table, everyone (except the Slytherins) still clapping and chanting his name; even Lily was smiling warmly as they watched their black-haired friend make his way towards Dumbledore.</p><p>He stood next to the Headmaster, still beaming, and looked for his friends at the Gryffindor table; they all smiled back at him, and he seemed to be at ease again.</p><p>“Our third and last champion. Who will your second be, James?”</p><p>James seemed to ponder for a minute, which was odd, since Remus knew he would pick Peter; they had both been talking about the tournament ever since it had been announced. What was taking him so long?</p><p>He took a deep breath and spoke clearly: “I choose Remus, professor.”</p><p>Everything was a whirl; Remus didn’t recall getting up from his seat and walking towards James, but he found himself next to his friend and facing the entire Great Hall. He could see Lily, Marlene and Mary smiling at him, giving him a thumbs-up, and Peter too, who was looking at him; Remus had known the boy long enough to realise when his smile wasn’t genuine. His lips were curled up, but his eyes were opaque and his shoulders were hunched.</p><p>“Why did you choose me?” Remus asked James in a low voice.</p><p>“I’m just being practical,” he replied in a whisper. “You’re better at wand work and logical thinking. I’m sure Pete will understand.”</p><p>Remus didn’t think their friend would, but he was too dazed to think properly. He noticed Dumbledore was speaking next to him, but he was unable to concentrate; he could already feel the wolf wanting to take over.</p><p>As if she had read his mind, he saw Madame Pomfrey gesturing him to the door behind the professors’ table. Dumbledore seemed to realise it was later than he had anticipated, so he quickly dismissed the champions and their companions with one last congratulation. James caught on quickly enough and he grabbed Remus’s arm, who was already sweating, and pushed him towards the door. Before he left the room, he decided to look to his side; he saw Sirius looking straight at him, grinning, and he cast a furtive look around the room; when he looked back, he mouthed a question to Remus, who simply looked away, unable to reply:</p><p>“<em>Ready to have some fun?”</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Early French Gets the Wolf</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm finally almost done with my exams for a few weeks! i hope i can write a little more now. thank you all for your patience and kind words, it wouldn't feel right to give you anything but my best effort💚<br/>stay safe! (especially my readers from Palestine and Colombia, sending extra love and warmth to you all)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was morning once more and Remus could feel the wolf recoiling, yet again, when the sun threatened to kiss his skin. As the fangs retreated and gave place to his regular teeth, his fur melted into his cold skin and his body shrank to its normal size, his only thought was that all he knew was pain and he just wished it could stop hurting. Everything hurt and he could do nothing but despise himself for being a torn, ripped in half, almost-man that couldn’t hate the side of his body that emerged every full moon, no matter how many times he’d heard that he should.</p><p>James and Peter, already in their human forms and wearing the clothes from the night before, were watching the scene unfold with worried eyes and heavy hearts; the first time they had joined Remus for a full moon, they’d tried to hold him after so he didn’t have to go through the process of shifting back on his own: they’d soon realised that the only thing it did was cause him more pain and make him feel constricted. So after that day, they had to stand next to him, feeling useless and wishing there was anything any of them could do to help ease their friend’s pain, and watching him go through the painful process of shifting back into his body.</p><p>Of course they couldn’t know that Remus wasn’t actually “going back to his own body”, because he never stopped feeling like himself, not even when his fangs dripped blood or his paws ached after a night of running around the forest.</p><p>They had watched him change back to his human form so many times that they both realised when the moment was over. Careful not to look at him, for both of them knew how much he loathed being seen right after a full moon, when his body was newly scarred and traces of dry blood cascaded down his chin, Peter and James gathered his clothes and turned away to give him some space to change into them. Once he was fully dressed (a stoic task, given his limbs ached and his left wrist looked an awful shade of purple), he whispered, with the last of his breath, that they could turn around.</p><p>“Alright there, Rem?” Peter asked, anxiously, as soon as they turned around.</p><p>Remus thought of at least two different responses he could’ve given: one of them would sound like “no, I’m not alright at all. I feel as if all the muscles in my body had detached from my bones, rearranged and then put back together and all I can do right now is watch”. Or two, something along the lines of “no, I’m not alright at all. Despite feeling like every part of my body is on fire, what hurts the most is knowing it will be another month until I can get rid of my human form and stop fighting the urge I feel every day to let this other part of me take over and just forget everything else. It hurts to know that no one else can know this because you’ll think I’m a monster that enjoys a curse I didn’t choose”. He knew he would never admit to the second option and he was so tired that even the idea of replying something sarcastic seemed like strenuous work.</p><p>So instead, he just replied: “Yeah, as good as I can be.”</p><p>James walked towards him and helped him sit on the ragged couch so he wouldn’t be cold as he waited for Madame Pomfrey to take him back to the castle. As he was holding him up, Remus could feel how he tried to conceal the fact that he was also carefully assessing his body and trying to decide whether there were any scars that couldn’t wait to be healed by the school nurse. Remus knew James did that every single time, yet he never said anything. Deep down, he liked knowing his friend was taking care of him. He pretended he didn’t realise and James pretended he didn’t know Remus could see right through his actions; their tacit agreement left them both satisfied.</p><p>“Will you be okay waiting on your own?” James asked as he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak they had hidden under some floor panels the night before.</p><p>
  <em>Do I have any other choice?</em>
</p><p>“I’ll be alright lads,” he replied instead. “Leave before Poppy gets here.”</p><p>With one last smile at their friend, Peter and James disappeared under the cloak and the distant sounds of the creaking floorboards were his only way of knowing they had finally left. He closed his eyes and tried to remember as much as he could, before the sleeping draught the nurse always gave him erased all the memories from the previous night.</p><p>It bothered him that, even if he tried to think about it right after he turned back to his human form, all he could remember were vague sensations; he remembered the cold. He remembered how it felt against the wolf’s skin, how its fur had kept it warm even when it was aware of the freezing winds that whispered among the few leaves left on the branches that hung above them as they ran across the forest. He remembered the feeling of the wolf’s claws against something rough (probably a tree’s trunk), which now, in broad daylight, reminded him of the awful feeling of nails against chalkboard, which was enough to send chills down his spine. He almost laughed at the irony of it all: there he was, weak and barely able to breath without being painfully aware of the feeling of his splintered rib, when just hours before he had witnessed how the wolf clawed at a tree so harshly that the tips of its paws turned into deadly darts.</p><p>He remembered the taste of iron in his mouth, but he couldn’t remember whether it was from his own blood or someone else’s; he hoped it wasn’t from any of his friends. But again, they seemed fine when they had changed back: not like they would tell him whether the wolf had hurt them. He remembered the hoots of the owls perched upon the highest branches, the sound of hooves against the damp soil when a herd of unicorns passed by them (after so many years, he had got pretty good at identifying the different sounds the inhabitants of the forest made: the unicorns’ trot reminded him of the faint sound of a pebble thrown into water), the distant sound of a centaur’s horn.</p><p>The one thing he always remembered was the freedom. He remembered the wolf finally feeling at ease after the night’s events (although he could also remember how the wolf sensed the change in its companions’ attitudes: while the stag felt as cautious as usual, the rat felt so much more distant and cold), he remembered how every one of its senses seemed to come to life after another long month, the feeling of its hind legs finally stretched out and its muscles working, the familiar pressure of its fangs against its lips.</p><p>He always thought it seemed too cruel: not only had he been forced to live a life he hadn’t chosen for himself, but even if he tried to make amends with it, he was forced, every single month, to relieve only bits and pieces of his night. And the one thing he always remembered was the one thing he knew he wasn’t expected to have.</p><p>A gentle knock on the door shook him out of his short doze. He tried to sit up, but when he realised he was too weak to do it, he just told Poppy to come inside in a hoarse voice, a sign it had been mostly unused for a few hours. It could also be the soreness from the wolf’s howls, but he decided not to dwell on it: he knew the wolf only howled when he felt happy or was trying to summon his pack and both options seemed highly unlikely, taking into consideration the tension his friend group had experienced after James chose him over Peter to be his second at the Triwizard Tournament. The thought made his stomach churn; whether it was with excitement or fear, he still hadn’t decided.</p><p>“How was your night, sweetheart?” she asked as soon as she entered the room.</p><p>“A’right,” Remus simply replied.</p><p>He didn’t want to worry her, but he’d actually had the roughest night in the last few months. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that, when the wolf took over, it could sense its companions’ moods better than Remus ever could. As bright as he was, he could also be incredibly dense; at least that’s what James told him at least once a week. And last night, the usual understanding that bind them together wasn’t there: as much as they did it for Remus, he suspected both James and Peter enjoyed the full moons more than they’d ever say. The wolf could see it in their eyes and the way they ran across the forest: for them, it had always been a choice. He could see the determined set of their jaws moments before they shifted into their animal forms, the sparkle of mischief that shone at the back of their stares right before doing something that they oughtn’t be doing. They could be excited. They could enjoy it. They had earned the right to do it because every single thing they’d done had been consciously decided.</p><p>But something had changed the previous night; Remus remembered few things, but that was etched in his memory. Peter had refused to be carried by James, as he always was, so Remus remembered the feeling of running freely and having to stop because the stag and rat were nowhere to be seen. He remembered how anxious the wolf felt every time it turned around and realised it was alone; how desperate it had been for any signs of its companions because it recognised that feeling of utter despair: the wolf had been alone for the first twelve years of its life, until the stag and the rat joined when Remus was in his fifth year. In wolf or human form, that was one of the things that scared the boy the most: being alone. When he met his two best friends and later, when they turned into Animagi for him, he knew they’d never leave him alone again.</p><p>Yet the thought of the previous night terrified him. And he could sense a number of fresh scars all over his body that proved it.</p><p>He let the nurse help him up and he didn’t complain when she briefly lifted his shirt to supervise his new wounds; he knew there were fresh ones, but he hadn’t dared look at them. By the look on her face and the way she quickly covered them from view, he assumed there was nothing good about them.</p><p>He was too tired to listen to her as they made their way towards the nursery; Madame Pomfrey was really chatty during the mornings and Remus was too tired to respond. It was a dynamic that seemed to work for the both of them.</p><p>They had just turned the corner when they heard a set of footsteps; Remus tensed and tried to walk faster, only his legs and hip weren’t cooperating. Poppy would probably come up with an excuse, but he didn’t like the idea of anyone other than his friends seeing him in such a frail state.</p><p>They weren’t fast enough and just when Remus thought his luck couldn’t get any worse, it obviously did. Sirius Black was standing on the other side of the corridor, his feet stuck to their place, his eyes wide as he realised he had been caught. He was wearing his uniform, which wouldn’t have been a surprise hadn’t it been for the fact that it was a Saturday: moreover, it wasn’t buttoned correctly (Remus noticed it was buttoned up, but somewhere in the middle he had skipped two buttonholes and so it hung unsymmetrically over his school trousers), he was casually holding his jacket, which was thrown over his shoulder, with two fingers and his shoulder-length black hair was tied up roughly which left his face uncovered. He didn’t look like he had slept at all. The shy sunbeams were sculpting his features like a chisel on marble and all Remus could think about was how much he hated him at that exact moment, when he so effortlessly looked like a painting worth exhibiting in a museum and he could do nothing but stare at him, hopelessly, until he’d eventually move even just a centimetre and the spell would be broken.</p><p>“Remus? Is that you?” he asked, walking towards them.</p><p>“Do you know him?” Poppy asked quietly, her body having involuntarily moved in front of his to shelter him from view.</p><p>“Barely,” Remus replied, panicking, when he realised he would have to give explanations.</p><p>The nurse knew, like she always did. She nodded and started carrying him towards the nursery, walking past the boy.</p><p>“Are you okay? What happened to him?”</p><p>“I suggest you go back to your room, young man. It’s early to be roaming around the castle,” she simply replied, not breaking her stride.</p><p>“Did something happen to him?” the boy inquired again, oblivious to Poppy’s intentions.</p><p>“Nothing of your concern, he’s under my care now.”</p><p>Remus looked down all the way towards the nursery; he could feel the boy’s eyes on his neck and he knew he’d ask questions the minute he looked up. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t leave it alone, why he was so insistent; but once again, he figured there were few things that Sirius Black didn’t get when he set his mind to it, few people that didn’t bend to his charms. He was glad he was under the care of a woman with nerves of steel.</p><p>They finally reached the nursery and Sirius was still following them, although he had stopped asking questions. Remus and Poppy stepped through the threshold and just as Sirius was about to do the same, the nurse turned around, looking at the French boy with such authority that it made him stop dead in his tracks.</p><p>“You can’t walk any further, sweetheart,” she said, and Remus never knew such a sweet word could sound so threatening. “Visiting hours don’t start until ten.”</p><p>“But I’m here now,” he said, confused.</p><p>“Only patients are allowed to be here at this time,” she responded and without giving him a chance to retort, shut the door in his face.</p><p>Remus thought he’d never loved anyone as much as he loved Poppy Pomfrey in that precise moment.</p><p>He had managed to sit on his usual bed when he heard a loud knock on the door. The nurse breathed in deeply before making her way towards the entrance, wearing a scowl that could’ve scared away even the bravest of men.</p><p>A relentless Sirius was on the other side of the door and for a moment he looked even more dishevelled than he had a few minutes before. Then, Remus understood why: his poise cast aside, he was leaning against the wall with a lopsided grin, his eyes half-open and a silver flask on his hand.</p><p>“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Poppy asked, horrified at the sight.</p><p>“I feel a bit iffy this morning,” he replied, rolling out his words. “Must be the Firewhiskey I’ve been drinking.”</p><p>“You were fine a few minutes ago.”</p><p>“But I’m not now! I think I’m going to—” he began saying, before his hand flew to his mouth. From the other side of the room, Remus thought he heard him retch.</p><p>The only thought in his head was that, as soon as he was fully recovered, he would murder Sirius Black.</p><p>His murderous thoughts were nothing compared to the nurse’s clear intentions written in her gaze. “You’re not showing any of the signs of alcohol poisoning.”</p><p>“Oh, but I feel so terrible I fear I may faint! I don’t know how would I possibly be able to explain to my headmistress if I somehow end up throwing up near our carriages!”</p><p>Sirius knew he had struck gold: if there was one thing one could do to piss off Poppy Pomfrey, it was to even suggest she wasn’t doing her job at the best of her abilities. She looked at him as if she was trying to make him evaporate in his spot; unluckily, it wasn’t a skill she had yet acquired.</p><p>“Come in,” she replied, eyeing him down. “Settle down and I’ll bring you a cure that will have you up and running in no time.”</p><p>Sirius just smiled and started making his way towards the beds when the nurse spoke again: “You do know I’ll have to report this to your headmistress, don’t you?”</p><p>“And I will bravely receive the punishment I deserve for my actions. Believe me, no one’s more deeply ashamed than I am,” he said, and for a moment Remus thought he could believe the worry in his voice.</p><p>But as soon as he turned back around and set his eyes on Remus, he knew none of it was true: there was a triumphant grin on his face as he made his way towards the boy.</p><p>He barely had time to settle on his bed when the one next to him was occupied by the French boy; he landed on the pillows and propped himself up on one elbow.</p><p>“So,” he began, looking at him with his gleaming eyes. “What’s this all about?”</p><p>“I’m just trying to decide whether your mind works in incredibly devious ways or you’re just <em>really </em>stupid,” Remus replied, closing his eyes.</p><p>“I like to think of myself as a schemer.”</p><p>“You just possibly bought yourself a month’s worth of detention for alcohol poisoning.”</p><p>“And also the entrance to the nursery. Who’s the smart one now?”</p><p>“Still not you, clearly.”</p><p>Before Sirius could reply, Poppy was back at their bedsides. “This is a place to rest, mister…?”</p><p>“Sirius Black at your service, <em>madame</em>,” he replied in what was possibly his most charming voice.</p><p>“Mister Black,” she repeated. Remus knew her long enough to decipher the contempt behind the two words she had spoken. “Here’s your draught. I encourage you to drink it right away.”</p><p>“Thank you so very much,” he winked at her.</p><p>Poppy rolled her eyes subtly before turning to Remus. “Let me help you out, pumpkin.”</p><p>With a swish of her wand, she moved the curtains so that they would hide him from view. As quickly as she could, she lifted his shirt up and, without giving him much time to look at his injuries, flicked her wand once again towards a green bottle Remus knew very well, that contained a soothing paste that spread itself all over his chest and, when he had removed his trousers, his legs too. The bandages followed and soon, he was wholly covered and sliding clean clothes over his dressings with the help of the nurse.</p><p>She left him with his Sleeping Draught and walked away, murmuring something about “impertinent French boys”. Sirius seemed to have heard it too and puffed up his chest.</p><p>Eager to avoid any interaction, Remus grabbed the vial from his nightstand and gulped it down. Sirius watched him attentively as he set himself in the bed, his eyelids already heavy and feeling the thick blanket of sleepless dreams soothe him.</p><p>“You’re here to <em>sleep</em>? How boring,” Sirius sighed, as he too grabbed the bottle Madame Pomfrey had given him.</p><p>“I’m sorry my life’s this ordinary,” Remus answered, closing his eyes. “Should’ve minded your business.”</p><p>“Remus Lupin,” he said, and his name rolled out of his tongue like the sweetest honey. “You’re definitely anything but ordinary.”</p><p>Remus couldn’t reply because he had already submerged himself in a deep slumber.</p>
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